littlepieceofchemistry

The UK’s Chevening Scholarships programme, funded by the British Government (Foreign and Commonwealth Office) and administered by the British Council is now open for the 2013/14 academic year.

Chevening Scholarships are the UK government’s flagship global scholarships programme currently offered in approximately 110 countries, in most regions of the world.  Established in 1983 by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), these scholarships support study at UK universities – mostly one-year Masters’ degrees – for over 40,000 students with demonstrable potential to become future leaders, decision-makers and opinion formers.

In China, the Chevening Scholarships Programme operates through the British Embassy in Beijing and the British Consulates-General in Shanghai, Guangzhou and Chongqing with administrative support from the Chevening Scholarships Secretariat. Chevening Scholarships are for talented Chinese citizens who have been identified as potential future leaders across a wide range of fields, including politics, business, the media, civil society, religion, and academia. Scholarship recipients are free to apply to any British universities and courses as long as they are relevant to their current profession.  Chevening Scholarships are highly competitive and application materials, including an application form, proofs of academic record, work experience and level of English, are crucial for evaluation. Successful candidates are selected following an interview.

Chevening Scholarships are mainly funded by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), with additional important contributions from private sector sponsors, universities and other partners in the UK and overseas including governmental bodies.  The FCO offers successful applicants scholarships covering tuition fees of up to ₤12,000, flights to and from the UK, and a living stipend.  Some scholars may receive contributions from partners and sponsors of FCO.

Application criteria
 
Candidates must:

• Be a Chinese citizen living in mainland China at the time of application;
• Meet the academic requirements for their chosen courses of study, e.g. bachelor’s degree recognised by the UK universities;
• Have been admitted by or at least have applied to a master’s course at a university in UK;
• Have minimum three years of work experience, and have responsibilities for management and decision-making;
• Have a good standard of written and spoken English and meet the language requirements for their chosen course(s) of study, demonstrated by an IELTS (academic) score at least 6.5 overall with no individual band lower than 6;
• Not be employees, relatives of employees, or former employees (who left within the past two years) of Her Majesty’s Government including FCO (and its British Embassies and High Commissions), DFID, UKTI, MOD, BIS, UKBA, the Association of Commonwealth Universities, a partner (sponsor), or sponsoring UK university;
• Not be in receipt of any other scholarships or award for the academic year, and not have previously received a UK government-funded scholarship in the past three years.

Desirable Chevening qualities

1. Be ambitious and courageous
2. Have good leadership potential
3. Be a quick thinker with innovative and creative ideas
4. Can quickly adapt to a changing environment

Chevening priority areas

Chevening Scholarships welcome applications from all sectors of Chinese life. However, we will give priority to those candidates who are able to demonstrate a clear link in their application between their current work (or future aspirations) and the priorities of the FCO. These priorities are listed below.

• Foreign and security policy/Defence
• Public policy
• Jurisdiction/Law
• Economics/Finance
• Trade/Investment
• Science and technology
• Environment and sustainable development
• Climate change and Energy
• Media
• Social development (Health/Education policy/Human rights/Judicial reforms)

For more information on application, please visit www.chevening.org