Three Charles Sturt University (CSU) academics have been named as the first recipients of scholarships aimed at encouraging women to complete their research.

The Banksia Program – Supporting Women in Research was launched at CSU last month, with mentoring and PhD Completion Scholarships part of the three year scheme.

PhD Completion Scholarships are valued at $4 000 each and must be used for teaching release to allow the recipient to work on completing their research. 

• Louise Fletcher, Lecturer at CSU School of Community Health. It is estimated that half of organ transplants recipients have developed heart disease five years after their operation. Louise Fletcher’s research is focused on the potential involvement of the drug, cyclosporine, an immunosuppressant administered to prevent organ rejection.

“The scholarship will allow me to conduct six weeks of final data collection at the University of Queensland. It would be extremely difficult for this to occur if I had teaching commitments. I will then be able to focus solely on writing the thesis after I complete data analysis. The PhD Completion Scholarship has potentially moved my graduation date forward by six months to a year, ensuring I will be able to engage in post-doctoral research sooner,” said Louise Fletcher.

• Louise Hard, Head of the CSU Murray Education Unit. Ms Hard’s doctorate through the Queensland University of Technology explores leadership and how leadership is enacted in the highly feminised profession of early childhood education and care. 

“In my role as Head of the Murray Education Unit I have teaching and administrative responsibilities.  The scholarship will provide me with release from my teaching responsibilities, allowing me more time to prepare my thesis for submission around the end of this year,” said Louise Hard. 

• Michelle Ortlipp, Lecturer with the CSU Murray Education Unit. Ms Ortlipp’s doctorate through the University of Melbourne examines tertiary supervisors’ perspectives on the assessment of early childhood practicum.

“It is almost impossible to maintain the focus needed to finalise the PhD thesis if you have to leave the writing regularly to prepare for and carry out teaching responsibilities. This scholarship will provide me with release from some of my teaching responsibilities and give me the time I need to write up and edit the final copy and have it ready for submission in the next few months," said Michelle Ortlipp.