Australia Awards Alumni South Asia

Lasantha, a current PhD student at Australian National University, first started her career as a Research Officer in the Coconut Research Institute Sri Lanka as a young BSc graduate. However, she felt a crucial need to improve the agricultural sector of her country which was facing a decline due to various reasons.

Even when she joined the University of Peradeniya as a lecturer later, she was still aspiring to be a good researcher who would be able to serve Sri Lanka by introducing and implementing new strategies for the development of Agriculture. This drive inspired her to obtain a PhD degree to gain the required knowledge and skills that would give her the mandate to reach her goal of serving her country by playing an active role behind the development of the agriculture sector in Sri Lanka.

The Australian Leadership Award Scholarship which Lasantha received under the AusAID program finally allowed her to pursue her PhD at Australian National University. She feels that she is on the correct track, as this scholarship provides her with all necessary support, not only in academia but also in terms of other related skills and experiences which are crucial for her personal development. This education is imbuing her with the skills needed to overcome the challenges that she might encounter in her career, helping to use her growing knowledge into strategies needed for implementation. She believes that what she is learning is certainly helping to form a strong foundation for her future success. She is delighted to have received this opportunity to attend an Australian university to compensate for the shortcomings in her country’s traditional learning system. She is using this opportunity as a platform to achieve success in her career and prepare herself for the challenges she may have to encounter in her reintegration plan.