Call for Applications:Open Society Foundations/University of Warwick Scholarship, UK

The scholarships, offered for a period of 12 months, are designed to enable scholars to pursue a taught postgraduate course at the University of Warwick. Each scholarship provides tuition fees at the University of Warwick, a stipend to cover living costs (for one person only), and return air travel from the scholar’s home country. On completion of the scholarship, scholars will return to their home countries.

Eligible Countries

Belarus, Kazakhstan, Moldova, and Mongolia.

Eligible Subjects

Scholarships are available from September 2012 for selected one year Master’s courses in the Faculty of Social Sciences and the Faculty of Arts:

• MA Creative and Media Enterprises
• MA Global Media and Communication
• MA International Cultural Policy and Management
• MA Gender and International Development
• MA Social Research
• LLM in Interna tional Development Law and Human Rights

Criteria

Applicants must:

• be nationals of, and resident in one of the selected countries during the academic year in which they apply for the award; applicants who are temporarily out of the country (for a total period of less than three consecutive months) may be treated as being resident;
• display intellectual ability and leadership potential;
• already hold (or expect to hold by the time of taking up the award) a degree of an equivalent standard to a good UK second-class Honours degree;
• have passed an appropriate English language test by the time of taking up the award. The University would expect candidates to have normally achieved at the time of taking up the award a score of TOEFL 600 (Paper based), TOEFL 250 (Computer based), TOEFL (Internet based 92) or IELTS 6.5;
• return to their home country at the end of their scholarship period to continue their studies / work there.

Preference will be given to applicants who have not previously studied outside of their home country.

Please note that if you have applied, or are applying, for other grants, fellowships or scholarships with the Open Society Foundations you should alert us to this in your application.  While you may apply under more than one scheme simultaneously, you can be awarded only one Open Society Foundations scholarship or grant for a given period.

Employees, employees’ relatives (or former employees who have left employment less than two years before) of the Educational Advising Centers or local Open Society Foundations representations directly involved in the Open Society Foundations Scholarship Programs administration in the region and the participating universities will not be eligible to apply for these awards.

Selection Procedure

• The local representative office will forward the applications to the University of Warwick. Academic staff at the university will compile a short-list.
• Short-listed applicants will be invited for an interview and an English language test in their home country in April 2012. Candidates should be available for the interview at any point during this period of time. The local office will inform candidates in early April whether they have been short-listed or not.
• Interviews will be carried out by representatives of OSF-London - in certain cases, there may also be a panel member representing the interests of the University.
• The final awards will be decided jointly by the University and OSF-London, Candidates will be informed in June 2012. Certain candidates may be offered reserve places for scholarships which means that there is a possibility that they will be given a scholarship, if one of the successful candidates withdraws from the program. The scholarship period begins in late September 2012.

Please note that all successful applicants will be expected to attend a one-month preparatory academic writing summer school in August 2012. The Open Society Scholarship Programs Pre-Academic Summer Program is designed to prepare Open Society Scholarship Programs grantees for a successful academic experience in the UK. Successful applicants will be provided with the opportunity to refine their research and writing skills through intensive courses in academic writing and social sciences. The exact date and location of the summer school will be available at a later stage in the selection process.

Application Process

Only the application forms provided by local representatives of the Open Society Foundations or downloaded below should be used. These forms are deliberately different from the university's standard forms so that the University of Warwick can easily recognize them as part of a competition application. If applicants use standard forms provided by the University, there is a risk they could be treated as a normal application.

Applicants are required to submit two copies of the application package: one original and one photocopy of the entire application set.

A completed application must include:

• Two copies of the completed application form.
• Two referees' reports in signed and sealed envelopes.
• Transcripts of undergraduate and any postgraduate study. If the Transcript is not in English you must provide a translation bearing an official stamp. Applicants may not translate transcripts themselves.
• Eligibility requirements Self Assessment Form.

Only complete applications will be considered.  Candidates may apply for one course of study only at the University of Warwick.

Deadline

Completed forms and other documents must be returned to the relevant local office by January 31, 2012.

Applications received after the closing date will not be considered.  

Additional Information

Applicants can read the university's Graduate Admissions Prospectus, a copy of which they can find at the local office of Open Society Foundations. Applicants will not, however, be able to take this copy home.

Visit the university's postgraduate homepage, www.warwick.ac.uk/study/postgraduate, for further information.

Contact Information

Applicants are urged to make use of all written documentation available, including the university's Graduate Prospectus and the guidance notes shown in the university's application form. Any queries about these guidance notes should be directed to either the relevant local representative of Open Society Foundations or:

Ms. Inga Pracute
Programs Coordinator
Open Society Scholarship Programs
Open Society Foundation-London
Fax: +44 20 7031 0201
Email: inga.pracute@osf-eu.org

Further Scholarship Information and Application