Rotary chooses University of Queensland as prestigious international centre

The Rotary Foundation has chosen the University of Queensland as one of eight elite universities worldwide to host its prestigious new centres for peace and conflict study.

The results of the hotly contested process to select the centres means Australia will join the United States, France, England, Japan and Argentina in providing a new level of scholarship among future global policymakers.

Seven facilities known as Rotary Centers for International Studies will begin operating in 2003 with up to 10 Rotary-sponsored students undertaking the first two-year course at the University of Queensland centre.

University of Queensland Vice-Chancellor Professor John Hay said international relations and Australian higher education each had much to gain from the Rotary initiative.

"This program will be at the forefront of scholarship in the field of conflict resolution and diplomacy. Rotary has indicated that the universities involved were chosen on the basis of the quality of faculty and research, teaching and service excellence. The University of Queensland is honoured to be among them. We understand the potential of this program to make a major global contribution, and with that in mind, we will pursue the highest possible outcomes for it."

The universities chosen are: Duke University and the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA (jointly hosted centre and counted as one); University of California-Berkeley, California, USA; Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris, Paris, France; University of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England; University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia; International Christian University, Tokyo, Japan; and Universidad del Salvador, Buenos Aires, Argentina.

The University of Queensland's faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences will administer the centre through the Department of Government.

The Rotary Foundation operates the largest privately funded scholarship program in the world, funding nearly 1300 students a year to study at universities and colleges worldwide. The service organisation Rotary International has 1.2 million members worldwide.

Foundation Chairman Robert Barth said he hoped scholars involved in the program would become the world's future diplomats and international leaders. "These scholars will learn the invaluable skills of both preventing and resolving conflicts," Mr Barth said.

He said wars in the Balkans, Sierra Leone, Angola and other regions underscored the urgent need for greater conflict resolution skills for the world's future leaders and diplomats. Scholarships for the program will open in the second semester of the year 2000.

Media: For further information, contact Professor John Hay, telephone 07 3365 1300 or Jan King telephone 0413 601 248.