Beyond the classroom

UTS BUILD is a leadership program with a mission to develop self-aware, informed and proactive global citizens. It inspires future leaders to deliver positive impact.

Learn alongside a community of like-minded peers from diverse cultural backgrounds. BUILD is delivered through interactive core workshops, elective events and seminars that broaden your global mindset and improve your leadership capabilities. 

Visit the UTS BUILD webpage to find out more about the program.

Joining the BUILD program has been a life-changing experience for me. It has allowed me to understand myself on a deeper level and provided opportunities to meet new people, enhance my skills, and particularly, develop my leadership abilities.

—Thi Van Anh Nguyen (Vietnam), Study Abroad and Exchange student

Looking back at the BUILD program and my experiences, I'm really grateful. It was a great way to meet new people. Through the discussions with other students, I was also able to learn a lot about different countries and their approaches to social and environmental issues. I gained a better understanding of different perspectives and others' opinions.

—Lucia Elena Manthey (Germany), UTS Study Abroad and Exchange student

For a first-hand perspective, check out Isabella's (Exchange student from Germany) BUILD journey on the UTS Think Global blog!

Please note that requirements and application instructions specified on the UTS BUILD webpage differ slightly for study abroad and exchange students.  Full details will be provided at an information session during orientation.

Through training, peer support and volunteering hours, UTS SOUL enables students to venture beyond the classroom and into the community to upskill, give back and make meaningful change.

Grow by completing core skill workshops in ethical leadership and social issues. The program follows the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Then – as an Aussie would say – get amongst it! Volunteer and complete 35 hours of service for a non-profit organisation.

When you're done, you'll earn your UTS SOUL Badge to recognise your hard work. In addition, you’ll receive a Certificate of Completion, LinkedIn recommendation, and volunteering experience on your CV.

Please note: requirements and application instructions specified on the UTS SOUL webpage differ slightly for study abroad and exchange students.  Full details will be provided at an information session during orientation.

Do some volunteering! It is best to immerse yourself in a culture, feel a sense of home and create long-lasting friendships.

—Julianne Ouellet Paradis (Canada), Study Abroad and Exchange Student

Read about Julianne's experience volunteering with Responsible Cafes

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In 2017, my nan unfortunately had a stroke, and watching my nan go through this journey, I learned about the struggles of both the patient and also the therapist that helped them.

For my nan, she was only receiving care three times a week for 20 minutes each time, and that’s just not good enough for a patient trying to reconnect their brain to the rest of their body. When I asked the therapist what was going on and why she wasn’t getting that care, they just said it was understaffed and they couldn’t hire more people to serve everybody. I thought well, what can I do as an engineer and my experience in robotics? And I thought well, how about we have something that physically gets in there and helps the patient through their rehabilitation process, and that’s what Tech Gym’s doing.

Being at UTS lets me access some of the best facilities around, especially being deep tech and in robotics, it’s not every day that I get experience to just play with a $30,000 robot or go and use hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of equipment to manufacture a prototype. There’s lots of benefits to studying and working on my startup. It de-risks it for me, but it also gives me the benefits of learning at uni and then applying that straight into my startup. It also gives me the network that I need – there’s so many great founders around me in the community, and having access to that is probably one of the best parts.

I think UTS Startups just provides the support that I need to keep going. It’s the constant reminder that I’m not alone in this journey – I can walk down here and look around and see 20, 30, 40 people at a single instant at a time working really hard on their businesses and you just go, ‘Wow, like this is not just me.’ Out of the UTS Startup Awards we met our product development company that’s working with us now.

From their Find Your Co-founder event, I actually found our business developer that we’re on-boarding at the moment and they’re going to come on board, which is huge, because we’ve got investment from investors coming in on the back of hiring that person, so that was a huge win for Tech Gym.

When you really are passionate, you’ve got to throw yourself into it. You’re not going to be an expert in everything at the start; the point is to learn and upskill yourself and surround yourself with the people who can actually teach you how to get into it.

I don’t just want to run a business because I want to be the founder of a company and the CEO of a company. I want to build a company that makes a real-world impact – it’s one of the reasons why I became an engineer in the first place, and this is one means of me completing that on my journey.

If you have a big idea, this is your chance to make it a reality. UTS Startups is the home of entrepreneurship at UTS.

Meet peers, learn from experts, and be equipped with the skills to start your business. UTS Startups runs masterclasses, events and mentorship programs to help you connect to industry professionals and gain access to tools and technology.

“Starting a business can be challenging, but it can also be incredibly rewarding and fulfilling when you see your vision come to life and make a positive impact on the world.”

—Thomas Birk Frederiksen (Denmark), Study Abroad and Exchange Student

Read more about how Thomas built a digital marketplace that reduces food waste at UTS Startups

The Global Programs Ambassador Program is an opportunity to gain professional experience at UTS.

Each session, we select two friendly and social media savvy Study Abroad and Exchange students to facilitate events and engage with other students on our online platforms.

What is it like to be an ambassador? Read about their experiences on our blog.

The Ambassadors work collaboratively with UTS staff. You’ll get four core mentorship sessions and have the chance to write blog posts, create content, and help out with community-building projects. You’ll also have the opportunity to design additional activities that highlight your personal skill set. In return, you’ll get a:

• Program completion certificate
• Professional recommendation
• and UTS merchandise!