Dishani Senaratne, School of Political Science and International Studies
Juki Trinh, School of Political Science and International Studies
The University of Queensland (UQ) Graduate Research School’s Career Development Framework offers placements with industry, government, and NGO partners. The primary objective of this placement program is to help Higher Degree by Research (HDR) students gain real-world work experience, expand professional networks and strengthen research and transferable skills. This article reflects the experiences gained by two students, Dishani Senaratne and Viet Dung Trinh (Juki), who are pursuing their doctoral degree at the School of Political Science and International Studies at UQ.
Working for peace
Dishani has considerable experience in taking part in peace-building activities, apart from having worked in academia in her home country, Sri Lanka. She’s the Founder and Project Director of Writing Doves, a non-profit initiative that employs a literature-based approach to enhance intercultural competence of young learners in post-war Sri Lanka. Therefore, Dishani was interested in pursuing a similar trajectory for her HDR placement in Australia. She succeeded in securing a placement opportunity at Just Peace Queensland, a Brisbane-based peace organisation whose aim is to raise public awareness about alternatives to war and the necessity of justice in achieving lasting peace. Just Peace stands as both a group of locally active individuals and as a proud member of the global peace movement.
During her placement at Just Peace, Dishani was part of the organising committee of the exhibition Never Again that sought to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and their long-lasting impacts. As part of this exhibition held in Brisbane in August 2025, Dishani co-facilitated peace-focused workshops for invited cohorts of high school students. The overall experience enhanced Dishani’s ability to communicate complex ideas and technical information effectively to a non-academic audience, while also strengthening her interpersonal skills.
Apart from serving as a catalyst to enhance some key transferable skills, the HDR placement strengthened Dishani’s professional network in Australia. On a more personal note, Dishani is currently living in accommodation graciously provided by an academic who she met during the placement.
Policy-making in the Asia-Pacific region
Turning to Juki, he knew and reached out to Asia-Pacific Defence, Diplomacy and Development Dialogue (AP4D) for doing the placement after taking part in an interview with an AP4D member about the organization’s project on Chinese economic statecraft in the Indo-Pacific.
AP4D creates a new dimension in Australia’s international policy-making by bringing together the development, diplomacy, and defence communities. AP4D’s program focuses on advancing Australia’s influence in Southeast Asia and the Pacific via this integrated approach, with outputs including dialogues, options papers, roundtables, briefings, and publications.
Juki provided valuable research assistance for AP4D activities. He covered a wide range of topics including Malaysia’s maritime security strategy, forced migration in Southeast Asia, the role of economic statecraft, the savings and costs of off-shoring, India’s public digital infrastructure, recent Quad initiatives, the impact of US tariffs on Australia, China’s Indo Pacific policy, and the state of US-China relations.
Publications and other achievements
Juki researched and drafted pieces for publication, particularly looking at Australian and Southeast Asia perspectives on diplomacy, development, and trade. He successfully completed and published four pieces during the placement including: As Western aid dries up, Southeast Asia faces the fallout on East Asia Forum; Has Australia turned its back on free trade? on 9Dash-line; Can Australia stay resilient in an unpredictable 2025? on East Asia Forum; and Why do Southeast Asian Countries Want to Join BRICS? on AIIA.
Juki also helped the Director of AP4D with planning and operations. He assisted with preparations for an Australian Diplomacy Today Symposium held at Parliament House, including draft programs, invitations and participant lists. The event went brilliantly and will result in a special issue of the Australian Journal of International Affairs. He also compiled an enormously helpful calendar of key dates, anniversaries, and elections in 2025 to guide AP4D’s communications. On the whole, undertaking a placement at AP4D provided Juki with a great opportunity to work with a thinktank group, enhance interpersonal skills and work in a group, and sharpen his writing.
The best of both worlds
The challenge of balancing time for doing internships and writing helped Dishani and Juki enhance their time management and prioritisation skills. They effectively allocated time to engage in activities held by the internship organisation while keeping in regular contact with supervisors to ensure that their theses stayed on track. For Dishani and Juki, the keys to balancing both important tasks are to focus on prioritised activities each week and make a daily plan.
