Tuckwell Scholars meet the PM

Prime Minister Tony Abbott has taken time out of his busy schedule to meet with the first 25 Tuckwell Scholars at Parliament House.

After a quick photo outside his office, the 25 scholars, along with Graham and Louise Tuckwell and ANU Vice-Chancellor Professor Ian Young, were invited into the Prime Minister's suite for a chat.

The Prime Minister congratulated each of the new students for their success in being awarded one of the first Tuckwell Scholarships and acknowledged the extraordinary gift from Graham and Louise in establishing scholarship program.

"It was a thoughtful and philosophical discussion with the Prime Minister about this sort of philanthropic program and how it fits in with a broader story about private giving in this country," Mr Tuckwell said after the meeting.

"It was quite clear that other people have followed on from our example and the Prime Minister made mention of the Twiggy Forrest gift that was inspired by this program."

The Prime Minister asked the students about their study plans, how they intended to use the scholarship and their longer-term plans for the future.

Scholarship recipient, ACT cycling champion and first-year medical science student Lucy Kirk, was able to compare notes with the Prime Minister about cycling, having ridden with him during one of the Pollie Pedal rides.

"We knew the Prime Minister was doing Pollie Pedal so a group of us waited outside his motel and when they were ready to ride in the morning we asked if we could ride with him," she said.

"I was lucky enough to ride alongside him for a while."

The Tuckwell Scholarship Program was established by ANU alumnus Graham Tuckwell and his wife Louise.  Their $50 million gift to the University was the largest ever donation to an Australian university by an Australian citizen.