You Can Still Travel for Study in 2021: Here’s How

Regional Australia is calling your name.

This post is presented in partnership with The University of Queensland.

Have your plans for international study been quashed by that pesky coronavirus? It’s time to make lemonade out of those COVID lemons. A Master of Agribusiness at The University of Queensland (UQ) will see you studying in regional Australia, giving you an experience unlike any other. In fact, by immersing yourself in the culture of regional Australia, you’ll gain a competitive advantage in your career.

Too many of us have snoozed on the idea of living in regional Australia as a student because of the assumption that it’s going to be just like any other city. However, this is where we are all wrong! Regional Australia can offer postgraduate students awesome experiences, connections and opportunities to build their knowledge and career in a way that the city just can’t compare.

Plus, if you’re passionate about agricultural science and agribusiness, regional Australia has the goods.

Regional Australia offers beautiful landscapes and vibrant small communities that will give you memories to last a lifetime, and a Master of Agribusiness can take you there.

What is agribusiness?

Food and agribusiness is a booming $5 trillion global industry that is growing quickly to meet the demand to feed the world.

Before you break out your R.M Williams boots, agribusiness goes way beyond the farm. It’s about working with producers and rural industries to connect them with distribution channels to meet the rising demand for food, changes in appetites and diets around the world and focus on sustainable production.

Professionals in agribusiness give advice to producers, farmers, agricultural businesses and governments to get the best farm production possible, minimise environmental impacts and help to achieve the most profit and improve distribution of food products.

If you’ve never thought about a career in agriculture or agribusiness before, you might want to take a look. A career in agribusiness will allow you to explore all aspects of the value chain - working with small-scale and large-scale transporters, processors, financial institutions and retailers, both internationally and domestic, so it’s super diverse.

One of the best things about it is its ability to take you pretty much anywhere in the world, and particularly around Australia. If you’ve always wanted to live in some of the most beautiful and underrated rural locations in the country, a career in agribusiness could be ideal for you.

What is working and studying in regional Australia like?

In regional locations all over Australia, you will get the benefits of travel along with living in a safe location that comes with a smaller population, lower pollution, heaps of breathtaking landscapes to discover, and amazing wildlife that you just don’t see in the city.

A regional lifestyle is also super laid-back, so you might even forget that you’re actually there to study.

Depending on where you decide to work, the climate will vary as well. But as most Aussies already know, our summers are hot and our winters are more tropical, so you’ll have way more opportunities to get out there and try swimming, camping, bushwalking, hiking or even fishing outside of your study time.

As a Postgraduate student, regional Australia also offers a plethora of career building opportunities and the chance to make connections with other professionals in agribusiness.

So, if you want to explore Australia and gain specialised business skills that can help get your foot in the door and feed the world along the way, let’s break down how you can get there.

Where do I start?

Students who have previously studied business, agricultural or rural science degrees have the opportunity to use UQ’s Master of Agribusiness to take them to regional Australia. You have options of doing your Masters in either 1.5 years or 2 years.

With either of these degrees, you will learn to understand agricultural research methodologies, value chain management, agrifood strategies and the ins and outs of agribusiness projects.

You’ll combine your passions for food, agriculture and business and get a more hands-on edge to your business degree.

Even better: UQ is internationally renowned for expertise in agriculture and agribusiness. In 2020 UQ was ranked 25th globally and 1st in Australia for agriculture and forestry (QS World University Rankings by Subject 2020).

UQ was also ranked 55th globally for business and economics (Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2020), and 3rd globally for Agriculture (NTU Ranking by field 2020).

If you’re super keen on an agribusiness career but aren’t a super fan of the cost that moving takes, students commencing a Master of Agribusiness are eligible to apply for the Destination Australia scholarship (woo!).

You can register for the free online Agribusiness demo class to find out more about UQ’s Master of Agribusiness programs.

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