New Colombo Plan boost for study and internships in the Indo Pacific

More UTS undergraduate students will have the opportunity to study and undertake internships in the Indo Pacific region with a boost in funding under the Australian Government's New Colombo Plan (NCP) program.

UTS has been allocated 443 NCP grants in the 2017 funding round, an overall increase of 54 per cent compared with last year.

Funding will be available for UTS students to go on exchange in 2017 to Vietnam, China, Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore as well as have short-term experiences in the region.

Megan Elliott, Manager, Leadership and Community Connections at UTS International, said that all but one of the UTS short-term projects that will receive NCP funding are new.

"Of these new projects, all have been designed and developed by UTS as opposed to 'off the shelf' programs provided by partner universities or third party providers. They are flagship international student mobility programs unique to UTS." 

This funding round also includes many brand new opportunities that are faculty led.

"Significantly we have received a great deal of support for our science, health, engineering and IT students, and for cross-disciplinary experiences. This is a considerable change from previous years when primarily students from the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences and from Design, Architecture and Building were supported."

Many of the short-term programs are interdisciplinary and encourage collaboration between faculties.

UTS Bachelor of Business Bachelor of Arts in International Studies student Rianna Darby highly recommends other UTS students take advantage of the opportunities that government funding provides.

Darby spent four weeks in Indonesia earlier this year as part of the International Business Internships program in Jakarta, one of the many short-term programs that UTS offers in the region.

"By the end of the program, I felt I had matured and established new connections and skills that I find myself constantly applying in work and study."

"I'll always value how the trip opened my eyes to a foreign country and the ties with the people and culture I developed."

Darby is now considering pursuing a career in Asia, or working in an Asian multinational company.

"Talking about overseas work experience is a point of differentiation in interviews. I also feel far more prepared and comfortable working in a corporate environment, which I had not had extensive contact with prior to doing the program." 

UTS will announce specific NCP-funded opportunities for students in early 2017.

Places are still available for some 2016 NCP-funded programs, including three two-week Sustainable Development programs in Nepal, six-week-long International Business Internships in Jakarta and a four-week Drishtree Samaahit Immersion program in rural India.

Applications for many other BUiLD (Beyond UTS International Leadership Development) summer programs are open.