High school drop out receives prestigious PhD scholarship

James Bunce, who left high school in Year 10, will undertake a doctorate this year after becoming USQ's first graduate to be awarded the prestigious Sir Arthur Tange Scholarship.

The highly competitive scholarship, which is open to Australian and New Zealand residents, is awarded to only two people annually, to undertake a doctorate through the Australian National University's (ANU) Strategic and Defence Studies Centre (SDSC) in Canberra.

The scholarship valued at $87,000 over three years will see James complete a PhD relating to International Relations (IR) and go towards both living and thesis production expenses.

James said he was so surprised by the news that he has to keep pinching himself to believe it's real.

'I can't believe it. I keep thinking there is someone who is better or has more experience that should get it,' he said.

'I didn't finish high school and after a few labour intensive jobs such as vege picking and lumber stacking I decided to enrol in USQ's Tertiary Preparation Program (TPP) which guaranteed me a place in a full degree.

'I only just scraped through TPP with 51 percent and when I enrolled in the Bachelor of Arts. I had no idea what International Relations (IR) was, but I was told it went well with History, which was my first major and something I was interested in.

'I ended up loving IR. The thing I like about it is that it gives a different perspective on things. It provides different ways of looking at the same issue and gives a much clearer view of a situation.'

After completing his Bachelor, James went on to graduate with First Class Honours in IR and won the Faculty of Arts Honours prize.

His research project at ANU will be an extension of his PhD which explored the ‘Challenges to Australia's Long-Term Strategic and Defence Policy that originate in the South-Pacific'.

James hopes to work for a ‘think tank' like SDSC or the Department of Defence following the completion of his doctorate.

'No one is exploring this issue yet and SDSC really want to develop someone with a capacity in this area,' James said.

'When I finish I'll be in demand because the Department is training me to their standards, but I think I'll stay in academia, at least initially. I'm only young so I'll have plenty of time for a career change.

'I'm 24 years old now and will be 27 when I complete my PhD - It'll be strange, the people who have written the text books I'm learning from will be my colleagues.

'I'd also love to come back and work at USQ at some point. I've had a wonderful time studying there. The smaller community means you get to know everyone and everyone gets to know you. I'm going to miss that at a big anonymous uni like ANU.'

James leaves for Canberra on 28 January with his partner and four year old daughter.

'I must give credit to my partner, Katie, too – I wouldn't be here without her. Without the work she's put in at home I wouldn't have been able to put the work in at uni,' he said.

'My high school teachers always said I had the ability, I just didn't apply myself – it just goes to show if you have the ability and ambition you can succeed.'

Media Contact: Fiona Taylor, USQ Media, +61 7 4631 2559 or +61 423 808 462