Amanda Jones
26 May 2017: The University of Canberra has received over $1 million in gifts this week to provide scholarships for rural students and fund cancer and road safety research.
The University has been gifted $600,000 from an anonymous donor to support young Australians from rural and remote areas access higher education. It is the single biggest gift from a living donor the University has received in its history.
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The University has been gifted $600,000 from an anonymous donor to support young Australians from rural and remote areas access higher education.
The Deepwater Undergraduate Scholarship aims to ensure that high potential students from rural and remote areas can attend university regardless of their financial circumstances.
It will be offered to undergraduate students commencing their studies at the University of Canberra from next year, with the recipient receiving $15,000 a year for the duration of their degree.
“We are committed to student equity in higher education and this gift will ensure that more students with potential can gain access to a University of Canberra education,” Vice-Chancellor and President Professor Deep Saini said.
The gift will also fund two research scholarships over the next six years for PhD candidates undertaking cancer research. Recipients of the Deepwater Higher Degree Research Scholarships will receive up to $30,000 per year, with the scholarships helping advance the work by Professor in Molecular and Cellular Biology Sudha Rao and her team.
The second gift received this week will see the University continue its research on road safety. The University has received $432,848 from the NRMA-ACT Road Safety Trust to fund two PhD scholarships for road safety related research. The UC Foundation will also establish a Road Safety Research Fund to fund other related research activities at the University.
Professor Saini said the funds would make a significant contribution to enhancing road safety for ACT road users.
“The University is grateful for its long standing relationship with the NRMA-ACT Road Safety Trust and for the considerable support it has provided the University over many years.
“Philanthropy allows a university to do what would not be possible otherwise and it is wonderful to see the growth of philanthropy at the University with high impact gifts like these.
“I thank these donors for their generosity and belief in our ambitions,” Professor Saini concluded.
