A clean sweep of top scholarships

UNSW students have made a clean sweep of high achievers' scholarships at a prestigious research centre.

The scholarships, which are awarded by the Capital Markets Cooperative Research Centre (CMCRC), are worth up to $30,000 per annum and can be awarded for up to three years.

The students work on improving software that detects fraud in capital markets around the world. It is used at the Australian Stock Exchange.

Four of the five students who were given the scholarships are honours students, doing double degrees in the Faculties of Engineering and Business. The fifth is undertaking a Master of Information Technology (Bioinformatics) in the Faculty of Engineering.

"This combines the studies I've undertaken in software and finance and it gives me unique industry experience in both areas," said Chris Chua, a 20-year-old third year student, who is doing a Bachelor of Engineering (Software) and Bachelor of Commerce.

"The work has real relevance to industry, which makes it really exciting," said 20-year-old Ho Yin Lai, a fourth-year student, doing the same degree. "It's also a growing industry with a lot of opportunities."

The other successful students are: Adam Gravitis (Master of IT, Bioinformatics), Zhe Chen (Bachelor of Engineering (Bioinformatics) and Bachelor of Commerce) and Ainslee Ling (Bachelor of Engineering (Software) and Bachelor of Commerce).

The Minister for Education, Science and Training, Julie Bishop, announced an increase in funding for the CMCRC, in which UNSW has a leadership role. The government has doubled its contributions to the Centre from $14.2 million to $26.68 million for a further seven years.

"This is indicative of the success of the Centre," said Professor Mike Aitken from the Faculty of Business, who is taking on the role of Chief Scientist of the CMCRC. "The extra funding will promote new ideas and companies in which the types of students identified here play a pivotal role."