The La Trobe University in Australia on Wednesday announced the Shah Rukh Khan La Trobe University PhD Scholarship for aspiring Indian woman researchers.
The scholarship provides research opportunities in health, sports, information technology, cyber security and engineering. The candidate will be supported with a four-year research scholarship valued in excess of $200,000 (AUD) to be completed at La Trobe’s facilities in Melbourne.
“While there can be important cultural dimensions to the issues faced by women in different parts of the world, the forum provides an opportunity to consider what has been done in India, Australia and elsewhere, to promote women into leadership positions, and the role that education has played in supporting women into leadership,” said professor John Dewar, vice-chancellor, La Trobe University, Australia.
Half of the international students in Australia’s oldest university [founded in 1964] are Indians. Prof. Dewar said the scholarship is being introduced in recognition of Mr. Khan’s dedication to women empowerment through his non-governmental organisation, Meer Foundation. Mr. Khan was honoured with a doctorate degree on his recent visit to the university, on August 9, for his contributions.
The Meer Foundation, founded in October 2013, works to rehabilitate burn and acid attack survivors in India. Students and staff donated $4,717 to the Meer Foundation on Tuesday.
Welcoming the scholarship announcement, Mr. Khan said, “As a passionate advocate for women empowerment, I am delighted that this scholarship will give an Indian woman a chance to pursue research in a field which is likely to lead her towards an exciting and successful career.”
The event also witnessed a discussion on gender equality and female empowerment at workplaces by the Women In Leadership Forum, moderated by professor Amalia Di Iorio of La Trobe.
“We need to talk about women empowerment through ages and stages. We talk about the few successful women, but we forget the ugly underbelly of failure of the majority of women. We are made to feel ashamed when talking for higher salary negotiations,” said one of the panelists, financial journalist Mitali Mukherjee.
Speaking about women’s leadership, Aarti Wig, founder and country director of Yunus Social Business India said, “We need to redefine leadership, and particularly, women leadership. Female attributes don’t necessarily sit in female bodies. There is testosterone-driven leadership in politics and business, which makes the fields cut-throat, while they can be dealt with peace and grace.”
Meanwhile, Prof. Dewar is currently in India to announce the establishment of the Asian Smart Cities Research and Innovation Network with the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur and the Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani. More than 70 academics from the three universities have already joined the initiative, with the aim of creating new joint research professorships and a joint PhD programme with more than 50 scholarships, worth over ₹65 crore, offered. The researches would be tailored to an Indian context.