British Council announces STEM scholarships for 2023-24
- Focused on creating opportunities for Indian women to pursue global credentials in STEM
- Globally partnering with 21 UK universities to offer women from over 20 countries to study a master’s degree or fellowship in the UK
Chennai, 13 March 2023 : British Council, the UK’s international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations announced the third cohort of British Council Scholarships for Women in STEM. 26 scholarsh ips and Fellowships are reserved for women STEM scholars from India and other South Asian countries, awarded on merit basis with no country-specific cap. These are across 6 UK higher education institutions – Coventry Univ ersity, University of Bath, University of Manchester, University of Southampton, Imperial College London and Th e University of Edinburgh. The scholarships will help enhance careers in STEM for the selected women scholars and enable them to promote research and innovation in their home country through their exposure to the expe rtise in the UK’s renowned STEM fields
Selected scholars from India will be able to obtain a master’s degree or an Early Academic Fellowship at a UK uni versity, and the scholarship will cover tuition fees, stipend, travel costs, visa, health coverage fees, special suppor t for mothers and English language support. The scholarships will also provide the scholars a long-lasting platfor m to connect with the UK through active engagement in the alumni network and inspire the next generation of women in STEM.
Across the 2021/22 global cohorts of 115 scholars enrolled on their chosen course in the autumn session of 20 21. 21 Indian women received the scholarship in 2022-23 and are currently studying in the UK. With these sch olarships, British Council continues to support women looking to acquire global credentials in STEM (science, te chnology, engineering or math) at a university in the UK.
Rittika Chanda Parruck, Director Education, India, British Council said, “At British Council, we believe that scientific and technological domains stand to gain a lot more through increasing accessibility of women. These scholarships will bri ng talented women’s fantastic creativity, innovation and unique perspective to these domains making it richer and more productive. We are excited to enable more women embark on their journey towards a career in STEM fields by sharing ac cess to UK’s renowned research pedagogy, state-of-the-art facilities and cutting edge technology, that can transform the ir learning and expand their horizon of opportunities. Over the past few years, we have supported over 200 Indian wom en to access world leading education and reach their potential, and we aim to continue adding more to support women in crafting a better tomorrow and inspiring others in the process.”
Prajakta Kumbhar, British Council’s scholarship winner from Mumbai pursuing MSc Pollution and Environmen tal Control from University of Manchester, said, “Receiving the British Council STEM scholarship has had a huge im pact on my life. From meeting new people, experiencing a new culture, cultivating an open world view and gaining global credentials from a highly regarded university, I am certain that the scholarship will help me pave the road to a fulfilling pr ofessional career. I aim to make the most of this opportunity and am very excited to learn that this opportunity is open for more women this year.”
As part of the programme, Indian women STEM scholars can apply for master’s courses and Early Academic Fell owships across 21 UK universities in courses like Computer Science, Data Science, Biotechnology, Environment al Engineering, Civil Engineering, Medicine, Public Health, Machine Learning, Robotics, Information Technol ogy, Renewable Energy & Energy Management and many more.
The scholarship is also open to women with dependants to apply, with extra support. The deadline for applicati on differs according to university – but are between March and May 2023. Students are encouraged to check ind ividual university deadlines. For more details about the eligibility criteria for the scholarship, or other informati on including a full list of participating UK universities, available courses and university-specific deadlines, please visit : www.britishcouncil.org/study-work-abroad/in-uk/scholarship-women-stem
