Six Indian students are proud winners of Deakin University's Vice-Chancellor's Meritorious Scholarship 2021. This year's recipients include Augusta Mariaraj, Bhavini Bhargava, Hritish Kakati, Moulishri Shukla, Rubaiyat Singh Takhar and Tanmay Arora. The prestigious scholarship program is part of Deakin University's initiative called 'Changing Lives', which aims to reward bright minds with 100 per cent tuition fee waiver scholarships in emerging areas of STEM, Sports, Health and other areas of interest.
The Vice-Chancellor's Meritorious Scholarship programme for India, launched in 2014, has benefited 26 deserving scholars who have gone on to pursue higher education in Australia, enabling them to pursue their dream careers. This year, the scholarships were offered in association with Deakin University's strategic partners Rajasthan Royals, KPMG and FICCI, which align with the areas of interest chosen by the students.
Thirty finalists were selected from more than five hundred applications received from across India. The finalists went through a rigorous selection procedure which included initial screening based on their academic merit, co-curricular achievements and a final round of group discussions and personal interviews.
The final round to select the scholarship winners was conducted by a panel of judges which included senior representatives from Deakin University, the relevant strategic partner and neutral representatives from academia and the private sector. Professor Iain Martin, President and Vice-Chancellor, Deakin University, said that the Meritorious Scholarships were part of the University's commitment to foster engagement with India by helping talented Indian students fulfil their ambitions of an international education.
"The winners will take part in the Vice-Chancellor's Professional Excellence Program, which empowers scholars to explore their aspirations and career opportunities through workshops and development meetings, and regular consultations with an academic mentor," Professor Martin said.
"I am thankful to our industry partners for collaborating with us on this great initiative and wish good luck to the winners for their future endeavours," added Professor Martin. Ms Ravneet Pawha, Deputy Vice-President (Global) and CEO (South Asia) at Deakin, said, "I am confident the scholars will make the most of this opportunity to gain from international experience and set new benchmarks in their chosen area of study."
Talking about his future at Deakin University, Tanmay Arora, one of the winners of the scholarship in 2021, said, "I am very excited on winning the scholarship and am really grateful for this opportunity. Having worked on a number of R&D projects, I realised that I needed a holistic learning space to learn, grow, test and explore my ideas and inventions more than anything else."
Rupa Subramanian, a Vice-Chancellor's Meritorious Scholar 2017, congratulated the new batch of scholars, saying, "I think it (the scholarship) is amazing, not just because the tuition is paid but being a part of the Vice-Chancellor's Professional Excellence Programme empowered me to achieve beyond expectations and be ready for the careers of the future."
