Australia’s top universities have recommended to the government to establish a special class of visa for researchers and PhD graduates in order to tap the higher education market in India.
The chief executive of the Group of Eight, a group of Australia’s leading research intensive universities said the Federal Government’s recent crackdown on foreign workers has sent a negative signal about Australia offering post-study career opportunities to researchers.
“One of the factors that Indian students considering a PhD overseas look at is their post-study work and career opportunities,” said Go8 chief executive Vicki Thomson who is currently in India with the Australia Business Week India delegation led by Trade Minister Steve Ciobo.
“Even the recent changes to skilled migrant work visas that didn’t directly affect PhD students reportedly had a negative impact on perceptions of Indian students towards Australia as a study destination,” she added.
Currently, PhD students can apply for a post-study work visa which allows them to live and work in Australia for up to four years. But that doesn’t guarantee them a career in Australia.
The Go8 has established a bilateral task force with India which is co-chaired by the Go8 Chair Professor Peter Hoj, and Director of the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT-B) Professor Devang Khakhar.
Among the recommendations made to attract bright researchers from India is establishing a special class of visa for researchers and PhD graduates. Ms. Thomson said the post-study work restrictions for the PhD graduates in the US present an opportunity for Australia by proving a better pathway from PhD study to a career.
The Go8 has had its research presence in India for a number of years, but that hasn’t resulted in a commensurate increase in the number of Indian PhD students coming to Australia.
“Our joint research successes have not translated into increased numbers of PhD students seeking to study in Australia, nor to more of our Australian PhD students seeking out study opportunities in India,” Ms. Thomson said.
“It is eminently sensible for our task force to address this and illustrate to PhD students of both countries what benefits such study mobility can provide to them, and to their national economies.”
The number of Indian PhD students studying in the Group of Eight universities was 599 in 2015, marginally up from 459 in 2012.
