Deakin University, one of Australia’s highly acclaimed public centres of higher education, ranked No. 3 worldwide for its Sport Management programmes and Rajasthan Royals announced the winners of Deakin-Rajasthan Royals Vice-Chancellor Scholarship for Indian students.
Two students from Amritsar and Ahmedabad became the proud recipients of the Deakin University Vice-Chancellor Scholarship which is aimed at strengthening Deakin’s unique partnership with Rajasthan Royals to enhance education in sport science and sport management and supporting global graduates of the future.Cricket icon and Rajasthan Royals mentor, Rahul Dravid awarded the prestigious scholarships at a special event in Pune held on April 9.

The two students were selected from a pool of candidates based on their academic merit and achievements in leadership and sports. The scholarships provide for a 50percent waiver of their course fee while studying and living in the picturesque campuses of Deakin University in Melbourne, Australia.

Shahbaz Waraich, a 17 year old student from Amritsar became the first Indian student to bag the scholarship for pursuing Deakin’s prestigious Sports Management Programme. He met the stringent requirements that Deakin has laid out for its highly rated Sports Management Programme. He has previously been part of a student exchange programme with France, apart from representing the school in Olympiads and winning many debates and elocutions. He has been conferred with “Scholar of the Year” title for three consecutive years.

Shifa Shaikh is a student of Delhi Public School (DPS), Ahmedabad. She has opted for the Law programme. Apart from being a merit student for two consecutive years, she has been a part of many MUNs and has even won some.

Ravneet Pahwa, director South Asia-Pacific said, “We are happy to give out the first two Vice-Chancellor Scholarships to such deserving students. It was a rigorous selection process where entries from students across the country were scrutinised over a three to four month period. Recognising the growing need for high quality professionals in sports management space in the country, these scholarships have been instituted by Deakin to give Indian students an opportunity to pursue its top ranked sports management programme.”

Professor Jane Den Hollander, vice-chancellor and president, Deakin University, said, “Deakin is keen to identify and nurture young talents, and create individuals with high morals, excellent skill sets and outstanding sportsmanship”.

“At Deakin, we believe in research and education that serves the community. Our aim is to be an engaging university and through this Vice-Chancellor scholarship, we want to create strong academicians and sportspersons. This is our way of giving back to the country that has given so much to us,” Professor Hollander added.

The scholarship ceremony was a part of a gala event to celebrate the unique partnership of Deakin University, Australia and Rajasthan Royals at Pune.  The event was hosted by Deakin University, Australia and the guests included the Australian High Commissioner to India, CEO of Rajasthan Royals, Raghu Iyer and senior representatives of Rajasthan Royals and team member includes Rahul Dravid, Steve Smith, Sanju Samson James Faulkner and Ajinkya Rahane and representatives from the academia.

Deakin is the first University in Australia to offer integrated business degrees in sport management. It is currently ranked No.3in the world by Sport Business International and is the only Australian programme to make the top 25 globally.

Established in 1974, Deakin University is one of Australia’s largest universities, with more than 50,000 students in four Victorian campuses across Melbourne, Geelong and Warrnambool.