The Australian Minister for Education, Science and Training, the Hon Julie Bishop MP, has announced that 14 high achieving scholars and professionals from the People's Republic of China are the recipients of Endeavour Awards for 2007.

The Endeavour Programme is a A$276 million Australian Government initiative that brings high achieving students, researchers and professionals from around the world to Australia for study, research or professional development in a broad range of disciplines. The Programme enables Australians to do the same abroad.

"The Endeavour Awards facilitate the sharing of knowledge, strengthen mutual understanding with the people of participating countries and build international linkages and networks," Minister Bishop said.

"Scholars who participate in international education not only return home with improved academic qualifications, they also have a greater understanding of other cultures and societies."

The Endeavour Programme is an internationally competitive and merit-based scholarship programme that will provide over 9,000 scholarships over five years to 2011. The scholarships are a mix of postgraduate, undergraduate, vocational and technical education courses, and research and professional development awards. They are open to all fields of study.

From this year, the Endeavour Programme is part of Australian Scholarships, an Australian Government initiative that has doubled scholarship and professional development opportunities in the Asia-Pacific region.

The Chinese Endeavour Award recipients will travel to Australia to undertake a wide range of research projects in fields such as accounting, human rights, biometrics, nanotechnology, medical research, maritime and corporate law, and corporate governance. The research further reflects the deep relationship Australia and China hold across a range of research fields.

Source: Australian Embassy