The University of New South Wales and leading employers in our country have joined forces to develop a form of Industry-University partnership. There are currently 22 Co-op scholarship recipients in Materials. The Program provides an extremely attractive scholarship ($15,000 p.a. tax-free) and has four important features:

 

Having achieved a high academic standard we select students on the basis of their personal skills and motivation, as well as their non-academic achievements. Students need to be involeved in school and community activities, to have shown leadership and initialtive and to have excellent communication skills. Co-op Scholars are selected on the basis of their character, motivation, leadership potential and academic achievement.

 

The Program offers an integrated program of academic studies and Industrial Training, which is jointly designed and overseen by university academics and sponsoring employers.

 

It requires students to work with different business sponsors during their degree, and does not require bonded employment after the course is finished, unlike most cadetships that tie students to one employer.

 

It provides every Co-op student with a tax-free scholarship of $15,000 p.a., which helps to serve as a living allowance during both the academic and industrial phases of the Program. This scholarship must be separately applied for here. More information on Application Procedure below. The School additionally provides other Industry and School scholarships.

Students will be allocated to 4 of these organisations during their studies.

Austral Brick Co Pty Ltd
Boral Bricks
Shinagawa Refractories Australasia Pty Ltd

Bluescope Steel Research Laboratories
Bluescope Steel Industrial Markets
Onesteel

Alcoa Australia
North Parkes Mines Rio Tinto
Rio Tinto Aluminium
Tasmanian Electrometalurgical Company (TEMCO)

To be eligible to apply for a Scholar position in the Co-op Program, you must:

Each Co-op Course has certain academic pre-requisites which also must be satisfied. Check with the UAC guide.

Scholars should expect to achieve a University Admission Index (UAI) of 95.70 (or equivalent) to be considered for most engineering courses.

Prospective Scholars may apply from anywhere in Australia or the World so long as they meet all criteria. Applicants must be available for Interview on the days the applicant's prospective Course has nominated.

Important Dates:

Before applying for a Co-op Scholarship, please check to ensure you are eligible to apply.

 

Prospective students must apply to the Universities Admission Centre (UAC). On a separate form, students must also apply to the UNSW Co-op Program. Application forms may be available from School's Careers Advisors, or online at the UNSW Co-op Programme site.

 

Application forms to UAC and to the UNSW Co-op Program must be received no later than 29 September of the year of application.

 

Students will then be notified if they have been successful in gaining an interview. They must be available for interview at the times given above. Interviewees will be notified by 10 December if they have been successful or not. Those that have been accepted will be provided with a conditional offer. After publication of UAI results, confirmation of scholarships will be provided.

 

After graduation there is no obligation for students to take employment by any of the sponsoring companies. Likewise, there is no obligation for sponsoring companies to offer employment. However, employers recognise that the program produces highly able graduates that they would like to employ.

The School of Materials Science and Engineering offers professional undergraduate BE degree programs in Ceramic Engineering, Materials Engineering, Physical Metallurgy and Process Metallurgy. These programs are accredited with the Institute of Engineers, Australia.

The Co-op study programs are based upon these four-year BE degrees in the same fields. However, an integral part of the Co-op scheme is professional industrial training which extends the courses to five years, including 16 months of industrial training.

An essential part of each program is 16 months of professional training undertaken in industry. This is done over four industrial training periods. The first and second periods involve 10 and 9 week placements with two of the sponsor organisations over the summer study recess at the end of years 1 and 2 respectively. From mid-way through Year 3, the third and fourth training periods extend over the next 12 months and involve successive 6 month placements with two other sponsors. After completing this industrial training, students return to finish their academic study mid-way
through Year 4.

The first training period is based in the laboratory, and introduces industrial environment testing, laboratory-production interaction and quality control. The second, third and fourth periods are concerned with the shaping and processing of materials specific to each discipline and are aimed at developing practical understanding of the processes, as well as familiarisation with environmental and safety regulations, as well as management skills and techniques. A key aspect of these training periods is an industrial project completed at each placement, which aims to develop the application of professional knowledge in an industrial environment.

The Co-op Program in Materials Science and Engineering lasts 5 years, 16 months of which are spent gaining structured industrial training. Co-op Scholars in Materials Science and Engineering rotate between different sponsoring organisations for their industrial training placements. Participating employers define specific learning objectives for each training period and, in line with these objectives, produce enterprise-level training programs. As much emphasis is given to developing students' business understanding and interpersonal skills as to their expertise in ceramic, materials or metallurgical engineering.

For enquires regarding Co-op Scholarships in Materials Science and Engineering please contact Owen Standard, academic co-ordinator of the programme.

For more general information in Co-op Scholarships at UNSW, contact the UNSW Co-op Program Website