Melbourne Summer Fellowship

Initiative on Cities Student Fellowship – Melbourne

This IOC Fellowship awards one Boston University graduate student the opportunity to spend the summer working with the City of Melbourne, Australia, within the Sustainability Branch of the City Administration.

The Sustainability Branch leads the city’s climate mitigation and adaptation agenda. It creates innovative strategies that set goals and targets, identifies barriers, and creates solutions.  The Branch delivers programs that help the Melbourne community adapt to changing climates and contribute to a low carbon future.

An opportunity exists for a BU student to contribute to the City of Melbourne’s sustainability by delivering the project listed below. The successful student will be embedded within the project team in addition to participating in whole of branch activities as an opportunity to gain on-the-ground experience. An appropriate supervisor from within the Sustainability Branch will be nominated for the student to work with.

The Selected Fellow will work on the following project throughout the Fellowship:

Designing the Climate Action Plan:

Purpose: To advance the vision of a carbon neutral city through the co-design of a Climate Action Plan. This work will consider both climate change mitigation and adaption opportunities for the City.

Outcome: Climate Action research report followed by a collaborative workshop of stakeholders, including Melbourne business, government and community leaders.

Tasks: Fellow will

  • Lead research into best practices of similar work
  • Run stakeholder interviews
  • Identify barriers/drivers to public/private City partnerships
  • Help convene stakeholder workshop

Skills required: Research, policy analysis, regulatory frameworks, communication, event planning

Details:

The IOC Fellow will be awarded a $6,400 stipend for an eight-week summer fellowship, which will run from mid-June through mid-August, 2016. Students will also receive a round trip plane ticket from a major US City to Melbourne, Australia. Housing is the responsibility of the student during his/her time in Australia.

Eligibility:

  1. Applicants must be in good standing with Boston University. They must be enrolled as a full or part-time student with Boston University.
  2. This Fellowship is open only to  graduate students, including Masters and PhD candidates.
  3. Skills and capabilities are required as per the preferred project requirements.

Responsibilities/Terms of Award:

  • Fellow will work a minimum of 35 hours per week for the entire eight weeks.
  • Fellow must complete the project requirements as outlined above and agreed upon with their supervisor through the internship.
  • Fellow must be in compliance with Australian laws, which require a current student visa and valid insurance. [Boston University Global Programs will provide relevant assistance.]
  • Fellow will participate in a roundtable discussion held in Fall 2016 at Boston University to share his or her experience working in city government.

Application: Applications for Summer 2016 are due to Patricia Cahill at pcahill@bu.edu by no later than midnight on Sunday, April 10, 2016.   Please compile all application materials into a single PDF, labeled with your name. 

  1. Current resume or CV
  2. Unofficial copy of your academic transcript
  3. Covering letter outlining:
  • a)     Why you are interested in this project.
  • b)     Your skills and capabilities relevant to the project.
  • c)     Interest in working for a city government abroad.
  1. Two references, including at least one academic reference. Please provide name, title, organization, phone number and email address.

Applicants will be notified whether they have been awarded the Fellowship. Finalists will be interviewed at BU with a final interview conducted via Skype with the City of Melbourne supervisor.