Chinese Government rewards two Monash PhD students

24 May 2006 Two PhD students from China have been recognised by the Chinese Government for their achievements while studying at Monash. Mr Guibin Zhang from the Monash Asia Institute and Mr Fuping Liu from Monash's Department of Chemical Engineering have received the 2005 Chinese Government Award for Outstanding Self-financed Students Abroad. Each student will receive a certificate of honour and US$5000 at a special ceremony to be held in July at the Chinese Consulate in Melbourne. Monash received two of just three awards presented to students at Victorian and Tasmanian universities -- the third going to a student at La Trobe University, with 15 awarded overall to Chinese students studying in Australia.

Chinese Government award recipients: Monash PhD students Mr Fuping Liu and Mr Guibin Zhang.

The award, sponsored by the China Scholarship Council, recognises top Chinese students undertaking full-time research training overseas and working towards a research-based doctoral degree. It also aims to encourage these students to contribute to and strengthen their ties with their home country.

To qualify, students must be Chinese, under 40 years of age and have been studying in a PhD program for at least one year at a university or accredited institution.

Overall, 202 awards were presented to Chinese students studying in more than 30 countries including Australia, Canada, the US, France and Japan. It is the third year the awards have been presented.

Mr Zhang has a masters degree in finance from the South-Western University of Finance and Economics and holds an International Postgraduate Research Scholarship and a Monash Graduate Scholarship.

Professor Marika Vicziany, Monash Asia Institute Director, and Professor Russell Smyth, Deputy Head of Monash's Department of Economics, are supervising Mr Zhang's PhD on the financing of the private sector in western China.

Mr Zhang was delighted to have received the award. "It is pleasing that my work is being recognised, particularly as I have yet to finish my PhD," he said.

He has co-authored several scholarly papers with Professor Vicziany, all of which have been presented at various international conferences, and hopes to pursue an academic career or work in the banking sector.

Mr Fuping Liu holds a masters degree in paper science from the Asian Institute of Technology in Thailand and a Bachelor of Chemical Engineering from China's Shaanxi University of Science and Technology.

He started his Monash PhD in 2003 and expects to complete it by the end of 2006. He holds a Monash Graduate Scholarship and departmental scholarship at Monash's Department of Chemical Engineering. Dr Wei Shen and Associate Professor Ian Parker from the Australian Pulp and Paper Institute at Monash are supervising his PhD.

Mr Liu's study, funded by the world's largest newspaper manufacturer, Sweden's Norse-Skog Group, involves investigating the causes of problems associated with the lithographic print process and materials and how these can be overcome.

He was delighted and proud to have received the award.

"The award is a recognition of my achievements at Monash," Mr Liu said. "We are competing with other leading universities in the world such as Stanford, Cambridge, Princeton, Harvard and Tokyo, so it is great to have this recognition."

Mr Liu is interested in a research career in the paper industry, before returning to China. He plans to use the award money to fund his younger sister's education.