Albert Coates Memorial Scholarships
- Category
- Foundation
- Location
- Ballarat, Berwick, Gippsland, Online, Wimmera
- Value
- $5,000
- Open date
- 01/06/2026
- Close date
- 31/07/2026
- Study sector
- Higher education
- Study level
- Bachelor
- Student type
- Domestic
- Student status
- Continuing
- Scholarships available
- 3
- Additional eligibility criteria
- The Albert Coates Memorial Scholarship incorporates: Albert Coates Award (Nursing) - $5,000, Jim Pryor Visual Arts Award - $5,000, Biomedical Science Award - $5,000.
- Domestic student (Australian Citizen or a Permanent Resident of Australia)
- Second year student in 2026 Studying one of the following courses: Bachelor of Nursing, Bachelor of Visual Arts or Fine Arts, Bachelor of Biomedical Science.
About Albert Coates
Albert Ernest Coates was born in 1895 at Mt Pleasant, Ballarat, attending school to the age of eleven. Beginning as a butcher’s apprentice and a bookbinder, he aspired to a career in medicine.
He sailed to Gallipoli as a medical orderly serving throughout World War I with distinction. After the War, he put himself through medical school by working at night in the postal service.
Within a year of graduating, Coates was appointed acting Professor of Anatomy at the University of Melbourne. Aged 46, he volunteered for duty during World War II. After the fall of Singapore, Coates stayed to care for the wounded in Sumatra, becoming a prisoner of war on the infamous Thai-Burma Railway.
Hundreds of lives were saved by his surgical work. He later became Senior Surgeon at the Royal Melbourne Hospital and Stewart Lecturer in Surgery at the University of Melbourne.
He was active in Rotary International and community service. Despite his achievements, one of Coates’ responses to praise was: “Any mug could have done it”.