Dr Hannah Middleton Peace and Conflict Studies Scholarship
In 2025, in memory of peace activist and former Sydney Peace Foundation executive officer Dr Hannah Middleton, the Sydney Peace Foundation launched a scholarship for Master’s students at the Institute for Peace, Conflict and Social Studies at the National University of East Timor. This scholarship underscores the importance of peacebuilding to enhance the social, cultural and economic development in this young nation.
The seed funding for this scholarship has been generously donated by Emeritus Professor Stuart Rees.
The Institute of Peace, Conflict and Social Studies
The Institute for Peace, Conflict and Social Studies (IPACSS), formerly known as the Peace Centre, was founded in 2007 as part of the National University of Timor Leste. The Institute’s mission is to ‘educate for peacebuilding’ to enhance the social, cultural and economic development of the more marginalised members in Timorese society.
Research undertaken at IPACSS over the past decade highlights ‘sustainable development’ in Timor-Leste through the lens of ‘positive peace’. This involves research into ‘the green economy’, prioritising sustainable jobs, goods and services that encourage processes with an overall positive impact on the health of the planet together with notions of the ‘solidarity economy’ that includes commercial and non-commercial activity oriented to meet individual and collective social needs over profit maximisation.
We thank our long-term supporter Dr Lynda Blanchard, SSEAC Country Convenor, University of Sydney and Visiting Professor, Universidade Nacional Timor Lorosa’e, for proposing this scholarship opportunity and continuing to liase with the National University of Timor Leste on the management of the scholarship.
For tax-deductible donations to the Sydney Peace Foundation go to our website: www.sydneypeacefoundation.org.au/donate.
