Scholar program highlights
August 24, 2026
The Crawford Fund for Food Security Scholar Program is a unique component of our Annual Conference, delivering tailored activities, networking and mentoring for young students and scientists with a genuine interest in international agricultural research and development.
This year, the scholar program placed particular focus on the “Emerging Voices” component of the conference theme, encouraging the 40 scholarship winners from universities and organisations across Australia to be bold and confident in asking questions and networking with the eminent speakers and guests at the conference.
Scholars participated in activities, heard from passionate participants in the nutrition and food security sector, and joined the RAID Network for a fun bingo night – read more about that here, and listen to the song list they put together on the night!
The Scholar Day Program involves two half-days of activities around the conference. This year these activities included sessions about how to break into international agricultural research overseas and at home; what you need to know about working in a partner country; career development opportunities; how to utilise the media to share your research, and much more!
International guests in Canberra for the conference program, members of the Crawford Fund’s State and Territory Committees, government agency staff and others gave their time very generously. The activities also deliberately lean heavily into utilising former scholars, student awardees, and RAID Network members, both because of their passion, and to reinforce to the 2026 participants the opportunities and pathways available.
A vital component of the success of the scholar program is matching the scholars with a dedicated and experienced mentor. This, once again, was seen as an extremely valuable part of the experience.
Each year, our scholars report on their scholarship experience. We look forward to presenting the full reflections from our 2026 scholars, however we can present a taste of what we have already received below:
“Just as valuable was the scholar cohort itself. Comparing experiences with students from Tasmania, Western Australia and the Northern Territory reminded me that “agriculture” means something different depending on where you’re standing, and that the network I’ve now got across the country is arguably as useful to my career as anything said from the podium. I left Canberra with a genuinely different view of where economics fits in food security work, and a mentor relationship I look forward to building upon.” Madison Isemonger, NSW Scholar
“Another most impactful elements of the Crawford Fund Scholar Program was its mentoring initiative. I was fortunate to [have a mentor who] not only offered me personal career guidance but also helped me navigate the busy conference program and introduced me to key figures in my field.” Sangay Dendup, NT Scholar
The [Crawford Fund’s] mission to support the next generation of researchers was also a clear theme in the development and delivery of both the scholars’ activities and the conference itself. The jam-packed three-day schedule was full of opportunities to learn and network. Beyond this, the mentorship program and discussions with other researchers, practitioners, specialists and lifelong learners provided me with a sense of clarity and direction.” Amalya Harding, QLD Scholar
Special Thanks
Thank you to those who supported our scholars to travel and stay in Canberra for the event. Thirty-seven scholars were supported by the Crawford Fund’s Committees, and two scholars were supported by The Gardiner Foundation, and one supported by the Australasian Agricultural & Resource Economics Society (AARES).
We also acknowledge those individuals who very generously made donations to our scholar program as they registered for the conference. We are very grateful for their support of this wonderful program.
Thank you to our mentors, who volunteer their time and effort to provide confidence, career advice and connections to our scholars. We could not deliver this program without them.
And last but not least, thank you to the members of the Researchers in Agriculture for International Development (RAID) Network who delivered the scholarship activities on 10 and 12 August with their usual friendly and enthusiastic style. Thank you Krishna Alamuru, Bridget Mullany, Megan Williams, Bek Ash, Anam Afzal, Mackenzie Coopman and Sue Faulkner.
The Scholar Program has been implemented since 2010, with this year’s group taking the total scholar cohort to around 525. Scholarship for next year will open in March 2027.
