Royal Scholarships Awarded to Australians

HRH Crown Princess Mary awarded scholarships to two Australian exchange students at a ceremony at the University of Copenhagen. This year’s recipients of the scholarship are Tempe Antonia McMinn from the University of New South Wales and Winifred Knight from the Australian National University.

The Crown Princess Mary Scholarship is awarded annually to two outstanding exchange students among our 19 Australian partner institutions.  The scholarships were part of the University’s wedding gift to the Crown Prince Couple in 2004. Each Australian partner university may nominate one of their exchange students to Copenhagen for the scholarship. The DKK 10,000 scholarships are intended as financial help for the recipients’ stay in Denmark.

A challenge to study far away from home
The two Australian students received the scholarships at a ceremony where The Crown Princess, Mary, honoured the two students for their outstanding academic performance and strong social commitment, but the Crown princess also addressed the challenges they are experiencing of studying far away from their home university:

“Studying abroad is often quite different from at home. When you leave the well-known and embark on something new, it is both a big challenge and a great experience. Right now, you are experiencing the cultural differences and similarities between Australia and Denmark, seeing things in a global perspective,”

We need students like Tempe and Winifred
The Prorector for Education, Lykke Friis also participated in the ceremony and in alignment with HRH Crown Princess Mary speech, she emphasized on the importance of inbound international students:

“We need global university education, we need students travelling across the world from Australia to Denmark, we need you – Tempe and Winifred.”

The recipients:

Crown Princess Mary with the recipients, Tempe Antonia McMinn (left) and Winifred Knight (middle).

Tempe Antonia McMinn

• Studies a Master's programme in law.
• Has motivated to study at UCPH Faculty of Law’s Centre for International law, Conflict and Crisis as well as the University's assessment style, with its focus on oral presentation and argumentation.
• Does voluntary humanitarian work both at her university in Australia and for a charity in Zimbabwe.

Winifred Knight

• Studies a double Bachelor's degree in Medical Science and Social Sciences.
• Is particularly interested in health issues on an international scale, especially the interaction between health systems and society.
• Has worked as a dental nurse and done voluntary work at a school in Kathmandu.

For further information on the Crown Princess Mary Scholarships, please contact Exchange coordinator Aske Stick.