Business impact. Future talent.
Every organisation faces unique challenges and opportunities. That's why every SCOUT project is tailored to your business needs.
We partner with you to define a meaningful project challenge and assemble a multidisciplinary team of high-performing masters students who deliver fresh perspectives, evidence-based insights and actionable recommendations.
The result? Tangible project outcomes, early access to emerging talent and the opportunity to build your workforce pipeline, all while demonstrating your organisation's commitment to innovation and industry-student engagement.
600–800
Hours committed to your project
12
Week-long engagement
4
Masters students per SCOUT team
6
Faculties represented
3
Intakes per year
1
Outcomes report per project
What companies are saying about SCOUT: 4D Medical
“Every week when we have our progress meeting with our SCOUT team, we are blown away by what they present to us. The SCOUTS are not only delivering on our short-term business needs, but also on our long-term drivers of business growth.
The complex problems faced by companies as they seek to commercialise their technologies require rigorous analytical skills, multidisciplinary thinking, nimble minds and team-work, and that’s exactly what you can expect from the SCOUTS. They are fabulous.”
— Tim O’Meara PhD, MBA
Director Government and Research Strategy
Benefits to companies
- Fresh thinking, fast – a dedicated multidisciplinary team tackles your challenge over 12 focused weeks
- Access future talent – see emerging graduate talent in action and build your employee pipeline
- Outputs you can act on – strategy, research, prototypes and analysis your team can use immediately
- IP ownership – sponsoring company owns all IP created by the students during the placement
- Cost-effective model – a low cost and structured, University-backed engagement program
- Academic lead – opportunity to embed an academic researcher into your project, scoped and priced per project
- Leadership experience – emerging leaders in your business can manage a small student team
- PR opportunity – a co-designed article showcasing your collaboration and outcomes
- Connect with the University – open doors to Melbourne's research, grants, IP and commercialisation ecosystem.
Intake dates
| Intake | Project brief deadline | Student placement |
|---|---|---|
| Semester 1 2027 | 2 October 2026 | 1 March–30 May 2027 |
| Semester 2 2027 | 2 April 2027 | 26 July–24 October 2027 |
| Summer 2027/28 | 21 August 2027 | November 2027–February 2028 |
*dates are subject to change based on UoM teaching periods and faculty timeframes
What SCOUT teams can help with
SCOUT teams contribute a broad mix of skills and emerging knowledge resulting in valuable work outputs.
What companies are saying about SCOUT: Eye Research Australia
“We were incredibly impressed with our SCOUT interns. It was inspiring to see their progression over the 12 weeks, from building new knowledge to contributing innovative ideas that helped drive our research forward.
The SCOUT student engagement team also did a fantastic job in selecting talented and motivated interns, which made the program easy and enjoyable to be part of.”
— Dr Ceecee Britten-Jones, BOptom (Hons), PhD
Senior Research Fellow, University of Melbourne and Honorary Research Fellow, Centre for Eye Research Australia
Read how our students have made an impact
FAQs
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A SCOUT team will typically consist of four masters students, and in some cases, up to five to meet the objectives of a larger project.
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Curated SCOUT teams represent the faculties of Architecture, Building and Planning, Arts, Business and Economics, Engineering and IT, Medicine Dentistry and Health Sciences, and Science.
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Typically, the supervisor (your internal champion) will commit half a day a week to the SCOUT project (over the 12-week period). This includes attending weekly meetings (on-site with the students) and being available to provide context and guidance, answer questions, remove roadblocks and ensures the project remains aligned to business goals.
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Every company challenge and SCOUT project is bespoke. Our end-to-end program delivery supports the full lifecycle of your SCOUT project – from design to delivery.
- Project brief design: in collaboration with the company, we workshop to complete a detailed project scope and work output plan.
- Advertise and recruit: the University of Melbourne will advertise within faculties and manage the student recruitment process. We will provide the company with a shortlist of candidates for interview and selection.
- Student 12-week workplan: we will work with the company to provide onboarding workshop materials including student’s draft 12-week workplans that align with the SCOUT project and company goals and expectations. This ensures students are ready to add value from day one!
- Ongoing support and milestones: administrative support occurs during the 12-week internship. This includes tracking of SCOUT program milestones, presentation updates and an end of project report, and/or other outputs as required.
- Evaluate and good news story creation: we will evaluate the success of your SCOUT project through company and student feedback and provide you with a report for future considerations. Lastly, we will create a 'good news story' to promote the project and conclude the program.
- Program fee: the SCOUT program is delivered through a $20,000 (ex GST) service fee per project, providing a structured way to engage with emerging talent while progressing a real business challenge.
- There is also the opportunity to embed a University of Melbourne academic researcher into your project. This is scoped and priced based on your specific objectives and desired outcomes.
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SCOUT teams are generally required to work on-site at least one day per week, under supervision. This enables collaboration and in-person participate in team and stakeholder meetings. Some hybrid work and meetings can also occur. Completely remote projects may be possible in some cases, depending on company circumstances and by approval.
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Market research, technical investigations, public policy, sustainability initiatives, innovation strategy – and much more! We scope the project with you to ensure it is achievable within the specified timeframe and curate a SCOUT team that can achieve the project objectives.
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Yes they can! Companies have gone on to hire students as part-time or casual employees. In other cases, companies have engaged students in their internal graduate intake programs, or as a PhD student.
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Students who apply for a SCOUT project do so for course credit and are therefore not eligible to be paid. SCOUT complies with the University of Melbourne’s Vocational Placement Letter of Agreement and Fair Work Act 2009.
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The host organisation owns the other project IP created during the placement. The student keeps copyright over their own assessment and reporting materials for their course. Full terms are in the Vocational Placement Letter of Agreement.