The OPTIMA student international exchange program exposes students to different technologies and ways of thinking. We currently have partnerships with three international universities, the University of Warwick, Lancaster University and UNIMORE. We invite our student members to spend six to twelve weeks on exchange with our partners. OPTIMA also welcomes exchange students from our international partner organisations at the University of Melbourne and Monash University.
To bolster international relationships, we also welcome expressions of interest from international institutions that are not current partners.
See below for our student exchange options.
OPTIMA students outgoing to international partner organisations
OPTIMA has student exchange opportunities for all our PhD students at our international partner organisations. Exchanges are between six to twelve weeks. Students must satisfy the following criteria:
- be a member of OPTIMA and studying a PhD
- can undertake the exchange for six to twelve weeks (preferred)
- have completed the PhD year one milestone
- have discussed the exchange with your OPTIMA supervisor
- demonstrate through a short application that the exchange will benefit the PhD project
- have contacted the proposed supervisor to discuss the exchange
- have reviewed the node university policies for student travel (University of Melbourne, Monash University)
- have completed the expression of interest
- have signed the OPTIMA code of conduct for outgoing students.
Interested? The first step is to review our international partner organisations’ universities and their capabilities to determine which partner/supervisor is a good fit. The second step is to discuss this opportunity with the OPTIMA and the overseas supervisors. The third step is to submit an expression of interest. The final decision will be made after the EOI has been submitted and reviewed.
Note: It may take up to four weeks to reach a final decision which will be made based on your submitted EOI. Decisions are made during the OPTIMA Executive Committee Meetings that take place the first Friday of each month. The OPTIMA Manager will then seek written permission from both supervisors before final approval is given for the exchange. You may organise your travel dates directly with the international partner only after you have been accepted.
OPTIMA will pay up to $12,500 to cover one exchange student’s reasonable accommodation, travel and some food costs to the location of the host university. All travel expenditures must be deemed reasonable and occur within the city of the exchange program. If the trip costs more than this, we encourage you to seek travel funding from your faculty. All travel must be booked on your behalf by the OPTIMA Manager. If you book by yourself OPTIMA will not reimburse travel costs, so please follow the procedure. It will be up to you to check your visa status to determine if you are eligible to travel to the UK or Italy. Applications remain open until the spots are filled. For queries, contact optima.arc@unimelb.edu.au.
Read the full policy here – OPTIMA Student Travel Exchange Policy
Students incoming from our international partner organisations
We invite expressions of interest from students based at the University of Warwick, Lancaster University and UNIMORE. OPTIMA has two node universities, The University of Melbourne and Monash University. Potential exchange students are invited to review our list of Chief Investigator capabilities and apply using our expression of interest; if selected, we will provide a letter of support to allow you to apply for funding from your home university.
Exchanges are between four to twelve weeks. Students must satisfy the following criteria:
- be a member of one of our partner universities
- have successfully completed the year one PhD milestone
- have permission from your supervisor
- demonstrate through a short application that the exchange will benefit the PhD
- have contacted the proposed OPTIMA supervisor to discuss the exchange
- have signed the OPTIMA code of conduct for incoming students.
OPTIMA will provide in-kind support. We encourage you to seek funding for transfers and accommodations from your university. We will not pay for food and sundries.
If you are interested, the first step is to review our Chief Investigators and their capabilities to determine the best fit. The second step is to discuss this opportunity with your supervisor. The third step is to submit an expression of interest. The final decision will be made after the EOI has been submitted and reviewed. Applications remain open until the spots are filled. For queries, contact optima.arc@unimelb.edu.au.
Non-partner organisations future exchange opportunites
OPTIMA is looking to advance our international exchange program by inviting expressions of interest from potential host universities. If you are willing to host optimisation students at your university or wish for OPTIMA to host your students please let us know. As optimisation is interdisciplinary we invite expressions of interest from any discipline within optimisation. You do not need to be an international partner organisation but we are interested to have new international partners join OPTIMA.
Considerations:
- OPTIMA will offer in-kind support for incoming students.
- OPTIMA will not fund the cost of travel, food or sundries for incoming students.
- OPTIMA will only fund out-going students of signed partner organisations, although the OPTIMA students may seek other funding.
- An exchange agreement will need to be in place between OPTIMA and the host university.