RM500,000 in aid for postgrad studies
A POSTGRADUATE degree adds great value to a person’s career, especially when they are about to start as a professional, believes British Council Malaysia director Sarah Deverall.
“There’s a lot of growth in the last couple of years in the area of postgraduate studies in the United Kingdom (UK),” she added.
With that in mind, the British Council launched the “GREAT Scholarships 2019 - Malaysia” in conjunction with the Study UK Malaysia Exhibition.
A scheme under the British Council’s Study UK campaign, the GREAT Scholarships encourages individuals to pursue higher education in the UK.
From a competitive pool of 20 British universities that applied to partner with the British Council to offer scholarships under the scheme, five were selected. They are Aberystwyth University, University of Kent, Queen’s University Belfast, the University of Stirling and the University of Warwick.
The scheme is jointly funded by the UK government’s GREAT Britain Campaign, the British Council and the five universities.
It provides funding opportunities to prospective students from a selected number of countries who will enrol into UK universities in the autumn of 2019.
“By offering a scholarship for a postgraduate course, we can offer to boost people’s professional career. “It’s an interesting development for Malaysian students who are interested in pursuing their higher education in the UK. Both countries have a long standing relationship, with education as the strongest pillar of that bilateral relationship.
“British institutions in Malaysia are not only educating Malaysians but also students from around the world; Malaysia is currently hosting around 150,000 international students, many of whom are pursuing a UK qualification.
“It is a commitment to continue our role in promoting UK qualifications in Malaysia, to ensure our institutions provide the highest value and unparalleled experience to Malaysians who choose to study in the UK,” Deverall shared during the press briefing.
Through the GREAT campaign, she said the British Council aims to enhance the reputation and quality of the UK’s higher education sector, and to emphasise that the country continues to welcome bright international students.
An important launchpad
University of Kent International Recruitment assistant director Sue Hopkinson echoed Deverall, calling a postgraduate degree an important launchpad for one’s career development.
“It’s important to broaden one’s skills into an area that bridges what they did at an undergraduate level and make it applicable to their relevant job or to expand to a completely different area,” she said.
Describing the application process, Hopkinson said for Kent, applicants will have to write a short essay on the subject they’re going to study.
“The selection process will be conducted by a panel (of academics).
“Kent is offering three scholarships worth GBP10,000 (RM54,065) each for all postgraduate pro- grammes; it will complement other postgraduate funding from our university.
“We realised that it’s getting harder for students to afford the fees.
“So we have to turn to our own resources and schemes as we wanted to enable those who perhaps couldn’t have managed it otherwise, to make a difference (to them),” she said.
Aberystwyth University on the other hand, is offering two scholarships worth GBP10,000 (RM54,065) each.
International and External Engagement director and reader in Law Marco Odello said the requirements include a second upper bachelor’s degree, adding that the link with Malaysia is important for such scholarships.
Noticing a boom in the healthcare industry in Malaysia upon research, the University of Warwick jumped at the opportunity.
Senior liaison manager Imran Hashim said the varsity is offering two scholarships worth GBP15,000 each (RM81,095.25) for Masters of Science in Biotechnology, Bioprocessing and Business Management, and Masters of Science in Medical Biotechnology and Business Management.
“The scholarship covers about 60% of the tuition fees,” he added.
Queen’s University Belfast is offering a full scholarship worth GBP20,000 (RM108,130) for their architecture programme while the University of Stirling is offering two scholarships worth GBP10,000 (RM54,065).
Currently, the number of postgraduate students accounts for about 15 percent of the total number of Malaysian students in the UK.
The GREAT Scholarships are only available for one-year postgraduate taught programmes for the 2018/19 academic year. Malaysian students intending to apply for the scholarships must have received an offer of entry from any of the five participating universities and must satisfy all entry requirements for the chosen course.
For more information about the GREAT Scholarships 2019 - Malaysia, visit www.britishcouncil. my/study-uk/scholarships.