ACT Committee
The Fund’s Australian Capital Territory Program was established in 2006. Its location in Canberra provides a great opportunity to work with several Departments and Agencies of the Australian Government including ACIAR and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade – and with a number of the peak bodies that are part of the Australian agricultural, forestry and fisheries industries. The organisation also has access to eminent researchers in scientific organisations and universities based in the nation’s capital, including the Australian National University (ANU), the University of Canberra (UC) and CSIRO.
The Program focuses across the Indo-Pacific in line with Australia’s development policy. Travel and training activities are supported on a case-by-case basis. These activities reflect the ACT’s strength in technical, economic, resource management and policy research that has national and international implication and impact. A brochure summarising our activities is available here.
Crawford Fund Student Awards – ACT
As part of our efforts to support and encourage the next generation in study, careers and volunteering in international agricultural research, the Crawford Fund proudly supports our Student Awards. These awards have been developed specifically to enable university students to gain valuable experience and expertise by bringing an international component to their studies and research.
In the ACT, applications are invited from honours and postgraduate students interested in gaining international agricultural research experience in developing countries, with a maximum of $5,000 awarded.
CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR 2024 STUDENT AWARD RECIPIENTS!
Congratulations to the 18 successful applicants from around Australia who received our 2024 awards to experience international agricultural research and development first hand.
The ACT award winners are:
Mashrufah Khatun, Australian National University
Location/Focus: Bangladesh
Research: Does the feminisation of agricultural labour empower women? Investigating gender dynamics and cropping system inside rural smallholder households in Bangladesh
Other collaborating institutions: Agricultural Economics Division, Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI).
Yen Le, Australian National University
Location/Focus: Vietnam
Research: Food Loss in the Pangasius Catfish Value Chain of the Mekong River Basin. ACIAR Project ID: CS/2020/209
Other collaborating institutions: Health and Agricultural Policy Research Institute, Vietnam.
Faizan ul Hasan, University of Canberra
Location/Focus: Pakistan
Research: Upscaling of customised irrigation and climate advisory services through citizen science.
Other collaborating institutions: Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources (PCRWR), (Project ID: ADPC-RSG-iCARE-006-2023).
ACT Crawford Fund Scholars: 2024 Annual Conference
Each year, the Crawford Fund Committees offer Conference Scholarships for students and young researchers to attend the annual conference. The Scholarship provides funds to cover expenses such as travel, accommodation and registration.
In 2024, we had a bumper crop of 40 2024 Annual Conference scholarship winners from universities and organisations across Australia! This took our conference scholar alumni to almost 500 young students and researchers and industry representatives with an interest in reshaping agriculture to better address food security, the nutritional needs of a growing population, and the environment.
ACT Committee in the News
- Empowering farmers through citizen science: insights from the Indus Basin, Pakistan
- “The 2024 Crawford Fund Conference feels like my first big step towards the career I’ve been dreaming of, and I couldn’t be more grateful” – Our Scholar Reflections from the ACT
- Drone pilot training to boost digital agriculture skills
- Exploring Brassica carinata as a biofuel crop
- Beyond the pumps: multilayered realities of irrigation for Nepal’s small farmers
Events
- Crawford Fund at ABARES Outlook Conference
- Celebrating Australians in International Agricultural Research