The Roberta Sykes Indigenous Education Foundation Information

The Roberta Sykes Indigenous Education Foundation partners with the Aurora Education Foundation to support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students to undertake postgraduate study abroad. This support falls under two broad categories: Scholarships to study full time postgraduate programs at recognised overseas universities and Bursaries to study Short Executive Programs at leading overseas academic institutions. To be a Roberta Sykes Scholar, one must reflect the strong community and activist roots of the foundation Roberta herself set up in the 1970s. We are not just looking for outstanding Indigenous scholars who will be role models for Indigenous communities. Our Scholars will have a mission to return to Australia from their overseas studies with a commitment to 'give back' to their community. We have no fixed ideas on what 'giving back' looks like, what courses are going to better advance the interests of Indigenous communities, or whether this is better done in the public or private sector on return. We are open to imaginative, novel and ambitious ideas. We have support students to study in education, environmental, law, arts, history, health, architecture and scientific courses. Since the first Roberta Sykes Scholarship was awarded in 2011, 37 Scholars have been accepted into full-time studies at prestigious universities across the world. To date, 29 have graduated.