A Sir Roland Wilson or Pat Turner scholarship can support you to undertake in-depth research in your chosen field of public policy.

Applications for the 2023 Sir Roland Wilson Scholarship are open and now is the time to get started.

Michelle Lyons joined the Sir Roland Wilson Foundation as a scholar in 2020 and is completing her PhD titled ‘Opportunities and risks for Australian energy exports under the Paris Agreement’ at The Australian National University (ANU).

“I was motivated to apply for the SRW scholarship for the opportunity to work with the incredible academics at ANU to understand how to improve the effectiveness of public innovation investments as we transition to net zero emissions, while remaining a part of the Australian Public Service (APS),” Michelle said.

Michelle has spent the past decade working on climate change policy for the Australian Government. She most recently worked in the International Climate Change Branch of the Department of the Environment and Energy, where she led the global analytics function and supported Australia’s involvement in the G20 Climate and Sustainability Working Group.

“As a public servant I rarely had time to read and learn in-depth about the subject matter I was working on except out of hours; as a PhD scholar I do it every day.”

Michelle’s advice for future scholars is to “talk to as many different academics, stakeholders and public servants as possible about your PhD proposal.

“I spoke to lots of people when applying and found it really helpful to test my ideas and make sure my research would be useful to both the APS and academia,” Michelle said.

For more information on our 2023 Sir Roland Wilson Scholarship program and applications, please visit our website: https://srwfoundation.anu.edu.au/scholarships/sir-roland-wilson-scholarship

Read more about the Sir Roland Wilson Foundation. 

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