Number of Indians wanting to do PhD in Australia rises

As increasing numbers of Australian business are interacting with Indian corporates, the number of Indian students wanting to pursue PhD programs in Australia has risen by 30.7 percent since 2012, making it the third most sought-after destination for PhD of students from India.

The number of India students pursuing postgraduate studies in Australia too is high as the Land Down Under is the second most preferred destination for them, next only to the United States.

A report of India PhD Advisory Taskforce released on 22 January cites the Go8 (Group of Eight) to state that 1,093 PhD students from India were pursuing their education in Australia. In other words, the percentage increase compared to 2012 is 30.7 percent and 60.7 percent compared to 2006. The largest proportion of these PhD level students from India are enrolled in engineering and related technologies (26.2 percent), followed by the natural and physical sciences (26.2 percent). In health and society and culture, the share of these students is 17.2 percent and 13.4 percent, respectively.

On the hand, most Indian students at masters and bachelors level mostly prefer management and commerce (46.3 percent), followed by information technology (28.7 percent) and engineering (12.2 percent).

Though the numbers of PhD students arriving in Australia is rising, it has some distance to go before it can catch up with the United States. The data published by IIE (Institute of International Education) revealed that in 2015-15, about 101,850 students from India were enrolled in Masters and PhD programs in the US as against 31,653 of them in Australia.

A source with knowledge on the development was quoted by DNA as saying that the number of Indian students arriving in Australia has particularly increased in the last three-four years. According to the source, one of the main reasons they are entering Oz is because more companies of Australia are doing business with corporate bodies and educational institutions in India.

Because a lot of students from India are oriented towards research, the number of patents filed in universities of Australia rise. This benefits the universities as well as students because the ranking of universities goes up when the number of patents filed is more, adds the source.

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