Joan Penridge Commemorative Award

Application dates

Applications open

10 August 2026

Applications close

1 November 2026

What you'll receive

You'll receive an award valued at $3,000.

The award will be paid as a stipend in two instalments of $1,500 per semester for up to one year, following confirmation of your enrolment after the census date of each semester, commencing Semester 1, 2027.

Eligibility

How to apply

You need to complete and submit the online application form by 11.59pm on the closing date, 1 November 2026.

Your application should include a written response addressing the following application questions

• briefly discuss how this award will enable you to achieve in your Bachelor of Nursing studies and remove financial barriers from your course journey (200 words max.)
• summarise the most significant academic, work, and/or life experiences that have contributed to your personal and/or professional development over the last 3 – 5 years. You may include any experiences relevant to your university life, employment/work experience or community involvement (200 words max.).

Your written response should be carefully proofread prior to submission and must not exceed 200 words per question (400 words total).

Complete your online application

What happens next?

Once the selection process is complete, you will be notified of the outcome of your application in writing.

Conditions

To maintain your Joan Penridge Commemorative Award, you must:

• remain enrolled as a full-time student (36 credit points or above)
• maintain a passing GPA of 4.0 in all your units
• write to the Head, School of Nursing, QUT, at the completion of each semester outlining your academic progress.

If you're working while you're studying, your paid employment can't interfere with your study program. If your study performance suffers because of your paid work, we may terminate this award.

The award is provided principally for educational purposes.

Terms and conditions for Joan Penridge Commemorative Award (PDF file; 346.8 KB)

About the scholarship

Dr Joan Penridge was a founding member of QUT's School of Nursing when it was established at the former QIT in 1978. Her outstanding commitment as a staff member in the School and the university continued until her untimely death from cancer in 1994. Throughout her academic career, Joan made an enormous contribution to the development of nursing education in Queensland, particularly the transition of undergraduate nursing to the higher education sector.

Joan believed passionately in the importance of education for nurses. Both inside and outside the university, her work was strongly underpinned by her unwavering vision of nursing as both an academic and a practice discipline. For her, the importance of theory and practice working synergistically together could not be underestimated and she worked tirelessly toward the goal of producing theoretically sound and clinically competent nurses. Joan inspired all those who had the good fortune to work with her, and her persistence, tenacity and commitment to the achievement of her vision have left an enduring legacy which continues today.

As part of the School of Nursing's twenty years celebrations in 1998, it was decided to raise funds to establish an endowment fund to be used to support a scholarship to honour Dr Joan Penridge and to help prospective nursing students. Interest earned from the fund is used to finance the Joan Penridge Commemorative Award each year.