Two things are vital if you want to apply for scholarships: the information and a plan. What I will do here is give you the information, and then you make the plan.
This week, seven scholarships have been announced from *five countries; France, the United Kingdom, Germany, China, and Australia. These scholarships can be divided into two main categories; fully-funded scholarships and partially funded scholarships.
Fully funded scholarships: These are scholarships where the scholarship provider takes care of all the financial expenses you will need to complete your studies. This usually involves; tuition, book allowance, flight fare from your country to the study destination, and a monthly stipend. The fully-funded scholarships this week are;
- The Eiffel Excellence Scholarship Program: This is a scholarship provided by the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs. It aims to enable French higher education institutions to attract high performing international students to France. The scholarship targets masters and Ph.D. students, and the deadline is 8th January 2021.
- Queen Elizabeth Commonwealth Scholarships: This is a scholarship administered by The Association of Commonwealth Universities, and it targets students committed to creating change within their communities. This scholarship works in partnership with universities around the world; the University of Dhaka-Bangladesh, University of Eswatini-Eswatini, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology-Ghana, University of the West Indies, Technical University of Kenya, University of Nairobi, Universiti Malaya-Malaysia, Universiti Putra Malaysia, University of Mauritius, COMSATS University Islamabad-Pakistan, University of Rwanda, The State University of Zanzibar-Tanzania. Scholarships are provided at the Master’s level, and the application deadline is 18th January 2021.
- DAAD Scholarships: this is a scholarship provided by DAAD in partnership with the ZMT Academy’s Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Research. It targets students from sub-Saharan Africa who wish to pursue a Ph.D. in Biogeochemistry and Geology, Ecology, Theoretical Ecology, and Modeling and Social Sciences. The scholarship deadline is 12th December 2020.
- The Chinese Government Council Scholarships: these are scholarships provided by the Chinese government but administered by universities. This week two Chinese universities have started accepting applications for the next academic year; Tsinghua university and Zhejiang University. Both universities offer scholarships at Masters and Ph.D. levels. While Tsinghua University has two deadlines; 15th December 2020 and 1st March 2021, Zhejiang University has just one deadline, 10th March 2021.
Partially funded scholarships: These are scholarships where the scholarship provider takes care of some of the financial expenses you will need to complete your studies. You will have to cover the rest of the funding by yourself. The partially-funded scholarships this week are;
- Oxford-Weidenfeld and Hoffmann Scholarship: this is a scholarship provided by the Weidenfeld-Hoffmann trust and administered by the University of Oxford. It targets outstanding university graduates and professionals from developing countries who intend to return to their countries at the end of the study period and be change agents within their communities. Scholarships are provided at the Master’s level, and the deadline for applications is 22nd January 2021.
- Vice Chancellor’s International Scholarship Scheme: this is a scholarship provided for international students at the University of Sydney. All applicants awarded unconditional admission letters to the university will be considered for the scholarship. Scholarship amounts are; $5,000. $10,000, $20,000 and $40,000
Scholarship Tip
If you are interested in any of the scholarships listed above, go to the website and get more information. With most scholarships, you will have to write an essay. When you do, use the 80/20% rule. It is 80% about them and 20% about you. All scholarship providers have a goal in mind when they provide scholarships. Your first task is to find out what the goal of the scholarship provider is. After you find that, see how you can help them achieve their goal. That doesn’t mean yours is not important —it is, so find a balance where you blend your goal with theirs. If you can find that balance, you are on your way to writing a persuasive essay that will increase your chances of getting a scholarship. Good luck!
Presented by Sylvie Watikum
She is the founder of the learnhowtogetascholarship.com blog
She has been interviewing scholarship grantees since 2016.
You can find her on Twitter @yourstruly_cv or Facebook @learnhowtogetascholarship
