State Member for Pine Rivers, Carolyn Male MP, today congratulated Nadine Brayley from Cashmere and other recipients of the State Government’s Smart Futures PhD Scholarships 2010 program, who will each receive $24,000 over the next three years.

Carolyn Male MP said, this year we will provide a total of $408,000 in funding to17 PhD recipients whose important doctorates will range from research into diseases like motor neurone and prostate cancer to road safety and climate change.

“The calibre of this year’s recipients is very high and I am pleased Nadine has been successful.”

Carolyn Male MP said the State Government’s Smart Futures PhD Scholarships Program was designed to support some of the State’s brightest minds and to develop research projects which benefit the community.

Nadine Brayley, a PhD researcher hopes to come up with a sure-fire plan to help Queensland’s rural and remote communities attract retired or semi-retired professionals as casual volunteers.

Nadine Brayley said, the Queensland University of Technology research project would help overcome skills shortages while providing potential volunteers with the opportunity to contribute their valuable skills and knowledge.

“This project is still in its very early stages but we will be looking at working with several rural/remote communities,” she said.

“We will initially conduct a series of focus groups to explore and identify the major factors that may impact on the decision by retired/semi-retired persons to become volunteers.

“Once we collect the data from those groups we will develop a questionnaire and sample an even bigger group to provide more comprehensive information and to develop a model which clearly spells out these motivators and any potential incentives.

“We will then put this model into practice matching volunteers with appropriate opportunities in rural and remote communities and monitoring the outcomes.”

The research project is also being supported by the Australian Research Council and the Queensland Department of Communities.

Since 2006, the State Government has now awarded 80 Smart State and Smart Futures PhD Scholarships valued at more than $1.6M.