ANU sets up $50m scholarship scheme THE nation's best and brightest students will have living expenses covered at the Australian National University (ANU) under a new scholarship scheme. Multimillionaire Graham Tuckwell and his wife Louise have given ANU $50 million - believed to be the largest amount ever donated to an Australian university - to set up the program. Starting next year, 25 new students will get $20,000 annually for up to five years while they complete their undergraduate studies. They'll become members of the new Scholars House, a dedicated meeting place for Tuckwell scholars to form their own community. Mr Tuckwell, the founder and chairman of UK-based ETF Securities, wanted a philanthropic opportunity after deciding he and his wife didn't need all the money the business was making. In 2012 Mr Tuckwell debuted on the BRW Rich List with an estimated fortune of $775 million. The couple believed giving the lot to their four children could destroy the kids' lives and wanted a cause where they could continue to be involved. "You could get the 10 biggest charities in Australia and give a tenth to each and you're done," Mr Tuckwell told AAP. That's not what we think is needed. They will sit on the scholarship selection panel to help define the type of students they want involved. ANU vice-chancellor Ian Young was excited by the vision developed during the eight months they'd worked out the scholarship's details. "It's not simply, 'well here's $50 million, go and do some good things'," he told AAP. They have a very distinct view about the sorts of things they'd like to try and achieve and the sorts of attributes they'd like to develop in students. Applicants will need to be "innately clever" with a minimum university entry score of 95 - although that cut-off may be higher depending on their background - have achievements outside the academic sphere, and be willing to give back to society in some way. "They may not have got the highest ATAR because they're too busy playing cricket for Australia and involved in this charity or doing six instruments or whatever it is," Mr Tuckwell said. But if you're lucky enough to be brought up in a great situation in a great school, don't even talk to us unless you're getting high 99s. Professor Young hopes the scholarship program will spark a new conversation about how people can give back to society. "People who have been fortunate enough to have ended up with high net worth ... well, they can clearly do good in a financial sense," he said. But I think there's other ways that people can contribute to society depending on the sort of careers they follow. With the first round of applications closing in early April, ANU will write to the 3800 high schools around the country to let students know about the new programs. Full details are online at tuckwell.anu.edu.au.