Overseas postgraduates on the rise in Australian universities

INTERNATIONAL postgraduate research student numbers in Australia have increased more rapidly than those in other programs, suggesting the country is finding traction in the global talent wars, new research has shown.

The number of overseas research students in Australia has grown by 67per cent from 2002 to 2007, while the number of international students in higher education has increased 52per cent, an IDP conference heard last week.

But just 19.7 per cent of all postgraduate research students in Australian universities are international, according to the Australian Education International data for 2008 presented at the conference inBrisbane.

The researchers pointed to overseas studies that showed while US schooling practices might not lead the world, it was the flow of international students as well as scientists and engineers that allowed the US toretain its leadership position in higher education.

IDP head researcher Melissa Banks told the HES that the outcome was very positive for Australia and its research effort.

It was the result of a systematic effort, especially among Group of Eight universities, to support overseas higher degree research students.

"There's been a deliberate effort to recruit more overseas research students through scholarships and subsidies and assisted employment and refined admissions over the past 10 years," she said. "The findings challenge the view that we have one-dimensional international student programs and suggest we are making enormous progress.

Ms Banks said highly skilled migrants were in short supply but in great demand worldwide, and if they could be retained by Australia they would help replenish rapidly ageing academic ranks.

Flinders deputy vice-chancellor (international) Dean Forbes and Monash pro vice-chancellor, research Max King told the HES universities had turned to overseas students to counter a decline in domestic students willing to do research.

Professor King said a recent Council of Australian Postgraduate Associations survey showed almost 60 per cent of people working on research domestically were postgraduate students. Australia's research effort depended on universities and research institutes and their postgraduates.

"Australia has global problems and those unique to us. If we want to be smart we need to have the capacity as we reach crises to have people that can solve our problems," he said.

Professors King and Forbes partly attributed the increased growth to other countries, especially those in developing nations, investing in scholarships to build up their universities. Professor Forbes, who is Universities Australia's international spokesman, said universities had to offer extra English language support to many of these students.

"We are competing for some of the bright young minds of the world," hesaid. "They may not have native standard English, but they have muchto contribute and will go on tobecome very successful and go onto stay and to do postdoctoral work, which will help rejuvenate ourworkforce."

University of Melbourne higher education professor Simon Marginson said the real issue was the quality of the research students.

"We are not in the market for the best and brightest because we offer very few scholarships.

"Many of our international research students are struggling on half scholarships, not living allowances. We can't compete effectively with (the US, Britain) and Europe that way," Professor Marginson said.

But on quality Professor King said the number of "extremely good, quite stellar applications" was continuing to improve every year.

Professor King said he hoped a proportion of the profits from the mining boom could be invested into the research effort.