$1 per guest night will back mental health research
Holiday Inn & Suites Geelong by IHG, which runs a hotel and promotes stays at Holiday Inn & Suites Geelong, will donate $1 from each guest night for three years from 1 October 2026 to support mental health research at Deakin University.
The Geelong partnership will fund the Franze Family PhD Scholarship in Mental Health Research. Deakin University said the scholarship will support an emerging researcher at its Institute for Mental and Physical Health and Clinical Translation, known as Deakin IMPACT, to identify and repurpose existing medicines as potential treatments for schizophrenia and related disorders.
Deakin University has campuses in Geelong and Burwood, Melbourne. Deakin said Deakin IMPACT has more than 400 researchers across science and clinical care developing diagnostics, treatments and therapies for mental, physical and chronic health conditions.
Scholarship to support schizophrenia research
Hotel general manager Kruno Velican said the initiative was designed to extend the hotel’s role beyond a guest stay. “Our hotel welcomes thousands of guests each year. Collectively, those individual stays create an opportunity for something much larger: a sustained contribution to research taking place here in Geelong. There is nothing additional for guests to pay for and nothing they need to do. They stay. The hotel gives. And together, those nights help fund hope.”
“I’m deeply grateful to Holiday Inn & Suites Geelong by IHG for establishing the Franze Family – PhD Scholarship in Mental Health Research. This scholarship is an investment in the future of mental health research.”
Deakin University said the arrangement forms part of its Together Campaign, which connects philanthropic support with research, education and other initiatives. The $1 contributions apply to Holiday Inn & Suites Geelong guest nights only and began on 1 October 2026.
