Sir James Foots, a former Chancellor of The University of Queensland, established the Sir James Foots Scholarships in 2000.  Since that date, Sir James has made an annual donation to fund the scholarships.

Up to 3 scholarships are available for second year students studying Mining Engineering and Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering with the scholarships being maintained through third and fourth year.  A noteworthy feature of the Sir James Foots Scholarships is that the need of students is taken into account and high academic achievement is not necessary to obtain one of the scholarships.

The scholarship scheme is jointly administered by SMI and the School of Engineering.