For the past 20 years, The General Sir John Monash Foundation has been providing postgraduate scholarships to outstanding Australians to study overseas in a broad range of fields including medicine, health, the arts, engineering, business, law, mathematics, science and Indigenous affairs.

BHP has proudly partnered with the Foundation since 2012, providing an annual postgraduate scholarship in the field of "Innovation and Growth: The Foundation for Australia’s Future".

Last week, the 2024 Scholar presentation ceremony was held in Canberra to recognise the sixteen exceptional Australians who have been selected this year, including BHP scholar Spencer Collaviti who has already commenced his PhD in Physics in Switzerland, studying dark matter and gravitational waves.

Spencer is passionate about accelerating Australia’s participation in international scientific collaboration and the potential for high energy physics research to benefit both social and economic prosperity. He believes physics is critically important to help solve the ongoing climate crisis.

Our partnership also supports the John Monash Foundation Leadership Academy, launched in 2021. The Academy works to provide ongoing support, mentorship and professional development for John Monash Scholars who have completed their studies.

Read more about our current and former BHP John Monash Scholars:
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Jillian Kilby | 2013 BHP John Monash Scholar
Jillian is the Managing Director of The Stable Group, a regional consulting company that brings together experts from Government, infrastructure and strategy to deliver improved social outcomes for communities across Australia. In 2018, Jillian founded The Exchange, a regionally based social-impact organisation focused on community and co-working. Jillian was the 2010 Young Engineer of the Year, the 2016 Stanford University Inspirational Speaker, and the NSW & ACT 2018 Rural Woman of the Year. During her John Monash Scholarship, she studied for an MBA and MPP at Stanford University.

Alexandra Readhead | 2014 BHP John Monash Scholar
Alexandra specialises in tax-base erosion and profit shifting in mining. Her work involves supporting resource-rich developing countries to design sustainable mining strategy. Alexandra provides policy and administrative guidance for the OECD, African Tax Administration Forum and the Inter-American Centre of Tax Administrations. She studied a Bachelor of Community Development at Murdoch University before using her John Monash Scholarship to undertake a Master of Public Policy at the University of Oxford. Before moving to the UK, Alexandra trained as a lawyer in Australia and was named in the global tax top 50 for 2017.

Dylan Sherman | 2020 BHP John Monash Scholar
Dylan in the science policy sector at the Australian Academy of Science and the United Kingdom's Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology. He is a lawyer, nano-materials scientist and educator who specialises in sustainable energies and multidisciplinary action. He completed his DPhil in Engineering Science at the University of Oxford in 2023, supported by the John Monash Scholarship. While studying, Dylan investigated the application of Metal-Organic Frameworks for sustainable energy alternatives as a first step towards clean energy policy development. His research has been published in international peer-reviewed journals, including Nature Communications, and presented at international conferences. In the legal sector, Dylan has worked at Clayton Utz and captained the world-champion Australian team at the 2018 INC Negotiations Competition in Tokyo.

Isabel Hanson | 2022 BHP John Monash Scholar
Isabel is an award-winning General Practitioner and academic with a passion for community health, policy implementation, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health. Isabel combines these passions through her work as a GP at Gandangara Health Services, a primary care researcher and lecturer at the University of Sydney, and as a Senior Policy Adviser at the Centre for Policy Development. In 2021, she was named the National RACGP GP in Training by the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners. Her overall career goal is to return to Australia and work at the interface between primary care, academia, and public policy - advocating for a fair and equitable health system for all Australians.

Nicholas Maurer | 2023 BHP John Monash Scholar
Nicholas is a graduate physicist and engineer, receiving first-class honours and a University Medal at the University of Queensland. He is passionate about energy and education and aspires to make a difference in both fields. As a published award-winning researcher, his area of expertise focuses on decarbonised energy systems. Nicholas worked in an offshore wind farm for K2 Management and behind-the-meter energy for Fredon. He is the founder of Lambda Learning, a platform designed to engage high school students in mathematics and inspire them to pursue tertiary education in STEM. With the John Monash Scholarship, Nicholas intends to study for a PhD in Engineering at Princeton University.

Spencer Collaviti | 2024 BHP John Monash Scholar
Spencer is a recent Australian National University graduate with a Bachelor of Philosophy in Science. He is passionate about accelerating Australia’s participation in international scientific collaboration and the potential for high-energy physics research to benefit both social and economic prosperity. Spencer attended Narrabundah College in Canberra, graduating as the Dux of his cohort with a first-placed entry rank into his elected field at ANU. He intends to leverage his people skills, transformational leadership style, and robust scientific capacity to unite individuals whose combined expertise may be used as a tool for overcoming our most pressing global challenges. He aspires to one day be a representative of Australian science as either the chancellorship of an Australian university, director of an Australian research institution, or Australia's chief scientist. Spencer has commenced his PhD at École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne where he will investigate the composition of dark matter and the characterisation of gravitational waves as they relate to black holes.