People from the Ag sector will have the chance to apply for fully funded travel for four to eight weeks with support from the Winston Churchill Trust
A program that offers everyday Australians the opportunity to travel overseas and investigate a topic or issue they are passionate about is running a dedicated information session for potential applicants from the agriculture sector.
The free online session on Wednesday 1 February 2023 will provide valuable advice for people interested in applying for a Churchill Fellowship – a non-academic award open to people from all walks of life, with no formal qualifications required to meet the criteria.
Around 100 recipients are expected to receive a Fellowship this year, providing fully funded travel for four to eight weeks, and support from the Winston Churchill Trust, so they can explore international best practices and innovations in a field of their choosing.
Including a live Q&A and starting at 5.15pm (AEST), the online session will be hosted by the former head of ABC Rural Leigh Radford. He will be joined by Churchill Trust CEO Adam Davey and two Churchill Fellows talking about their experiences to help inspire and inform potential applicants:
- Dan Brown, who used his 2018 Jack Green Churchill Fellowship to investigate dairy cow nutrition and has since become head of dairy at Moxey Farms; and
- Research agronomist, Loretta Serafin, who explored alternative summer oilseed crops for north-eastern Australia; and now leads the NSW Department of Primary Industries northern summer grains research program.
The information session is the first in a series, which also includes sessions built around the themes of environmental management and sustainability on 6 February 2023 and food production on 13 February 2023.
“These sessions will provide valuable advice to anyone thinking about applying,” CEO Adam Davey explained.
“We hope they will also encourage people to recognise that Churchill Fellowships really are open to anyone passionate about their chosen field of interest. We have had Churchill Fellows who didn’t even complete high school, and who were in the early stages of their careers, with the Fellowship proving to be a life-changing experience that opened new doors to them as individuals.”
The precise topic of focus is completely up to the applicant, who designs their own itinerary. However, applicants are expected to have worked through the issue thoroughly in Australia, exhausting locally available knowledge. Importantly, they must also demonstrate potential benefits to their sector or community, and be willing to share the findings on their return.
Aside from general Fellowships, specific national and state-based sponsored Fellowships are being offered in a range of fields, including dairy, horticulture and the tropical pastoral industry. They include the Saskia Beer Churchill Fellowship to investigate artisanal food production and small-scale farming, and the Hort Innovation Australia Churchill Fellowship to cultivate new ideas in horticulture.
Registration for the online sessions is essential. To book and for more information see more at this link. The application round opens on 1 March 2023 and closes on 1 May 2023.
Recipients will be announced in September 2023.
