PALRC Scholarships for Advanced Professional Training In Protected Areas

About The Protected Areas Learning And Research Collaboration

PALRC is a tertiary and vocational education and research initiative dedicated to natural and cultural heritage protection, stewardship and conservation management, and capacity building for Australia, Asia and the Pacific. Key institutions of the collaboration are the not-for- profit Tasmanian Land Conservancy and co-founder University of Tasmania, and partner university course providers across Australia including Murdoch, Charles Darwin, and Charles Sturt universities. As it continues to grow and develop, PALRC is seeking to foster partnerships with quality education providers across the regions.

PALRC benefits professionals and community-based conservation practitioners working on protected areas and other area-based conservation activities across the regions. PALRC is funded largely through donations and in-kind support. It has received financial support from private donors, the University of Tasmania, and through partnership funding from the Australian Government’s Director of National Parks.

PALRC is currently providing a range of short courses, Graduate Certificate and Masters courses, all of which specifically address selected competences from the IUCN ‘A Global Register of Competences for Protected Area Practitioners’. International recognition is being sought for PALRC from the IUCN.

About The Scholarships

PALRC offers scholarship opportunities for all its courses.

Depending on the level of funds available, there will be up to two rounds of PALRC scholarships offered each year.

The purposes of PALRC scholarships are to:

1. Provide financial support to enable successful applicants to gain advanced professional training and/or qualifications in protected areas management from a leading Australian University or other approved PALRC course provider in Australia, Asia or the Pacific.
2. Support professional development, exchange of knowledge and experience, peer networking and collaboration to further the scholarship recipient’s career path in protected areas management and for other similar places of natural and cultural heritage significance.

Target Recipients Of Scholarships

Anyone seeking to undertake a PALRC course is eligible to apply. We particularly seek and will give preference to capable, high-achieving students and emerging leaders in Australia, Asia and the Pacific who have a career ambition to advance the protection, sound governance and effective management of protected areas and other similar places of natural and cultural heritage significance in their country or region. We especially seek to support those who would not otherwise have an opportunity to undertake such a course.

We also seek applicants who can demonstrate productive engagement with indigenous and local communities associated with these areas.

We encourage Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to apply. We also encourage other indigenous people and those with local community backgrounds to apply .

As far as possible PALRC will seek to offer scholarships over time to a spread of recipients and select the best candidates taking into account considerations such as regional distribution, career stage, gender and opportunities to access education.

Assessment Criteria

• An intention to have ongoing engagement in and commitment to excellence in governance and management of protected areas and/or other similar places of natural and cultural heritage significance.
• Relevant experience with protected areas and/or other similar places of natural and cultural heritage significance, including a history of contribution through work, study, community engagement, leadership, and/or influence with networks and organisations concerned with caring for these areas.
• Your academic record as relevant to the course for which you have applied.
• Experience engaging with indigenous and/or local communities in protected areas and/or other similar places of natural and cultural heritage significance, such as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander and other indigenous or local
• A needs-based requirement where without this scholarship it may otherwise be difficult to enter the proposed course.

Support Provided By PARLC Scholarships

Scholarships provide successful applicants with financial support to cover some or all of the course fees associated with undertaking approved PALRC courses. PALRC course fees vary from around AUD$2,000 (short course), AUD$5,000 (Graduate Certificate), AUD$15-45,000 (Bachelor or Masters domestic full fee), to AUD$88,000 (International full fee).

A range of scholarship opportunities are available:

• Scholarships of AUD$2,000 are currently available for approved PALRC short courses.
• Scholarships of up to AUD$5,000 are currently available for approved PALRC University Courses, including Bachelor Degrees, Postgraduate Certificates, Diplomas and Masters.
• At least one scholarship of AUD$5,000 will be awarded for a PALRC university degree/course as an award for Academic Excellence, should a suitable outstanding applicant be available.

Scholarships may also be created for specific purposes such as: to support indigenous people to attend training courses; for the provision of a short course in a nominated location; for a designated group of people including agency or NGO staff; for international students from designated locations to attend courses in another country; and, to attend a particular course at a particular university.

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