After working through a record number of applications, the judging panel and the Bursary sub-Committee are proud to announce the two recipients of the 2016 AIIA WA Bursary for Studies in Asia as… James Panarettos and Maija Ala-Kauhalouma. Congratulations to these worthy receipients!

The Bursary program was designed to assist Western Australian university students pursue educational activities in the Asian region. This initiative was established in line with the AIIA’s overall mission of promoting an interest in and understanding of international affairs, with a particular focus on seeking to enhance Asian literacy amongst young leaders of the future.

Thanks to the generosity of AIIA WA members and supporters, AIIA WA has been able to award two recipients per year since December 2011 $2,000 each to put towards their nominated endeavours. To date, a total of 10 students have been supported. The 2016 recipients will be utilising the funds as follows:

James is studying a Bachelor of Philosophy (Accounting and Finance) at the University of Western Australia. He is currently completing his Honours in Economics and is studying in Singapore as a New Colombo Plan Fellow. James will put the Bursary towards travelling to Peking University in China. He will spend six months there researching development economics, with a particular focus on poverty in China.

Maija is completing a Masters in Development Studies at Murdoch University. She will be attending the 7th University Scholars Leadership Symposium in Hanoi, Vietnam, in August. Maija is passionate about volunteering, gender rights and education, and is hoping to gain a global perspective on these issues at the Symposium. Maija also works as a Community Development Officer with the City of Subiaco, and will be looking to bring back knowledge gained at the Symposium to apply to her work in her local community.

The AIIA WA would like to thank all of the 30 applicants for putting such a great amount of time, effort and thought into their applications. The applications were of a very high standard and demonstrated a great interest in international affairs. We hope that all of these people may join us at some of our upcoming events.