Announcing New Undergraduate Student Awards – more support for students with global aspirations

August 12, 2024

The Crawford Fund’s NextGen  suite of activities to encourage the next generation of Australians in agriculture for development is getting a much-appreciated new component.

With the support of Ted and Frances Henzell and family, the Crawford Fund will be offering national awards to fund brief visits by Australian undergraduate students to international agricultural research projects in developing tropical countries in the Asia Pacific Region, Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique and Madagascar.

The awards were announced by the Fund’s chair, The Hon John Anderson AC, in his address to this year’s crop of Conference Scholars and their mentors on 12 August, prior to the Fund’s 2024 Annual Conference.

“It is wonderful to be able to fill a niche in our NextGen program through the generosity of Ted, Frances and the Henzell family. We can now add to our NextGen conference scholarships, our Student (post-graduate) Awards and our partnership with the RAID Network.”

“The Crawford Fund Henzell Awards will enable visits by Australian undergraduate students to international agricultural research projects.”

“Like Ted, we hope this will encourage even more interest in studies and careers related to food security and ultimately to grow the number of Australians involved in international agricultural research,” said John.

“The Crawford Fund welcomes this opportunity to work with the Henzell Family for many years to come.”

The Henzell Awards will be launched later in 2024 to coincide with the 2025 Crawford Fund Student Awards. They will be available to Australian citizens or permanent residents who are at least in their second year studying at the undergraduate level at an Australian university.

“Reflecting the need for a multi-disciplinary team to take on the task to improve food and nutrition security, students can be studying in any area of relevance to food production and food and nutrition security,” he said.

Students who receive a Henzell undergraduate award can subsequently apply for the Crawford Fund Conference Scholarships or our existing Student (post-graduate) Awards.

Ted Henzell has been recognised with the Centenary Medal and Officer of the Order of Australia for contributions to agricultural science. The Crawford Fund had the pleasure of launching Ted’s book Australian agriculture: its History and Challenges back in 2007. An extended interview we organised for Ted and the Crawford Fund’s then Executive Director, Dr Bob Clements, on Radio National can be found here.

A long career in CSIRO and then international consulting convinced Ted of the benefit to Australians in getting overseas experience.

Noting the limited opportunities for undergraduates to get international experience, and with his own initial experience of working in developing countries being a real eye-opener, he realised the importance of learning about local differences.

“You’ve got to be humble enough to think you’ve got a lot to learn,” explains Ted who also appreciates the value of ongoing partnerships.

In this short video produced by Ted’s son John, Ted explains his thinking behind offering to support the Crawford Fund Henzell Awards:

The Fund will be launching the new Henzell Awards in November 2024.