The Victorian government today announced $1.1 million in university scholarships to boost skills under the ICT Industry Plan.

Minister for Information and Communication Technology, Marsha Thomson, said the scholarships are spread across five universities and aim to attract high-quality students in ICT postgraduate research.

Thomson said the government is working with industry to develop specialist skills and ICT research.

She said most of the scholarship winners will begin research projects in one of five ICT priority areas, including telecommunications, ICT hardware design and manufacturing, business solutions and creative content.

The Victorian government has identified future access to skilled graduates as one of the major challenges to the growth of the industry.

"If Australia wants to grow a vibrant, innovative and internationally competitive ICT industry, then there needs to be an aggressive program to boost skills at a national level," Thomson said.

"Seven of the 19 scholarship recipients are women, which is fantastic in an industry which is currently made up of 80 percent men."

The scholarships program is part of the Victorian Government's Industry Plan 2005 - 2010, released in December.