Provider: School of Medicine and Psychology.

Each year the ANU Medical School may offer two awards known as the Bill Nicholes “Willigobung” Scholarship for Medicine.

The objective of the award is to provide financial assistance to students enrolling in the Australian National University’s four year graduate entry Medicinae ac Chirurgiae Doctoranda (MChD) degree program. 

Funding for this award has been provided by the late Bill Nicholes, who bequeathed more than $4.2 million to support students studying graduate medicine at ANU. Bill was a retired farmer who lived and worked on his family’s farm near Tumbarumba, NSW, for most of his life. The estate was called “Willigobung” and was acquired by his father as a Solider’s Settlement block in 1951. There the family established an apple orchard and eventually became one of the most successful apple growers in the region. Bill was said to be instrumental in the farm’s success. 

In later years, when his mother and father’s health deteriorated, Bill cared for them at “Willigobung”. Bill also suffered from a number of medical conditions and it is thought that these experiences may have contributed to his decision to support scholarships in medicine. To honour Bill’s regional background and his intention to give students the opportunity to come to ANU who otherwise might not be able to, one of the scholarships available each year will be for a student who is relocating from, or was schooled in a rural, regional or remote area.