Endowment fund to support scientists from the developing world

Professor Chennupati Jagadish and his wife Vidya have kickstarted a new endowment fund to bring science students and academics from the developing world to study and do research at the Australian National University (ANU).

The Chennupati and Vidya Jagadish endowment fund will pay for up to four scholarships or fellowships a year for students and researchers from the developing world to study or conduct collaborative research for up to three months at the Research School of Physics and Engineering (RSPE).

“Both my wife Vidya and I studied in India, so we really wanted to give something back to the developing world,” said Professor Jagadish, who is the head of Semiconductor Optoelectronics and Nanotechnology Group at RSPE.

“I am grateful for the opportunities I had in my life and would like to provide opportunities for others.”

Professor Jagadish believes that exposing a person to the research culture in the early stages of their career could help shape the career they choose. He said, “Participants will be able to form international links with colleagues in the field of physics and take their experiences back to their country. Collectively, we can achieve bigger and better things.”

The couple’s donation has been supported by the RSPE, the College of Physical & Mathematical Sciences and the ANU, taking the endowment to $500,000. RSPE Director Professor Tim Senden said the school was “overjoyed to assist Jagadish and Vidya build their scholarship”.

“In every way, this invites access to the same opportunities they enjoyed and embodies their fond desire to grow that access for generations to come,” said Professor Senden. “Implicit in their gift is the message that sustainability comes from community spirit.”

The fund joins the other 17 endowment funds established at the RSPE in recent years.