The scholarships aim to provide opportunities for independent postgraduate study in the United Kingdom for students who are engaged in or intending to pursue postgraduate work in their own country and who have demonstrated both academic excellence and the potential to become leaders, decision-makers and opinion formers in their own country. Subject to satisfactory progress, the scholarships lead to the award of a Masters.
The scholarships will enable suitably qualified students to pursue taught postgraduate programmes within the Human Rights Centre at the University of Essex. The two programmes offered are the MA in the Theory and Practice of Human Rights and the LLM in International Human Rights Law.
Each award will provide for payment of academic tuition fees, examination fees, a monthly stipend for living expenses sufficient for a single student, and other agreed allowances including one return economy airfare.
WHO IS ELIGIBLE TO APPLY?
The scholarships are open to applicants from Indonesia, Jordan and Palestine(Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel are also eligible to apply).
Applicants:
should be nationals of and normally resident in one of the selected countries at the time of applying for the award; applicants who are temporarily out of the country at the time of application (for a total period of less than 3 consecutive months) may be treated as being resident;
should already hold (or expect to hold by the time of taking up the award) a relevant first degree with good grades;
should have passed an IELTS test at an appropriate level (this must be at least 7.00 overall with no individual band less than 6.5) at the time of taking up the award;
previous relevant practical experience will be considered;
should commit to returning to their home country at the end of their scholarship period to continue their studies/ work there;
should not have already received or be currently receiving financial benefit from a previous HMG funded scholarship;
should not be employees, employees’ relatives (or former employees who have left employment less than 2 years before) of FCO (including FCO posts), the British Council, the Educational Advising Centers or other OSI-NSP representations in the region and the participating universities.
Preference will be given to applicants who have not previously studied outside of their home country.
HOW CAN I APPLY?
You can get application forms (together with information about the courses at the Human Rights Centre) from your local British Council office (see addresses in Section 7).
You will have to complete a Graduate Admissions Applications Pack. (This requires that you submit a number of additional documents, such as academic references, and application checklist.
You must submit all the necessary documents to your local British Council office by Monday 19 January 2009 at the latest (one original set plus three complete photocopied sets).
PLEASE NOTE THE FOLLOWING IMPORTANT POINTS:
Incomplete applications will not be considered, four complete copies (the original and three photocopies) of your application must be received.
The overall impression of your application will be taken into consideration. Applications should be typed if possible or, if this is not feasible, they should be written clearly - with defined paragraphs and margins. If we cannot read the application then it is unlikely to succeed.
Statement of Purpose - this should be clear, concise and handwritten. You should remain within the 500 word guideline as only the first 500 words of your statement will be taken into consideration.
References - please note these must be academic (from the institution where you gained your degree). You may, if you wish, include a professional reference in addition to the two academic references.
If your application for a scholarship for the MA or LLM is unsuccessful we cannot subsequently forward your application to the University for consideration. If you want to make a separate application to the University then please contact the relevant department.
Applicants are expected to reach the required level of English language. This should be at least 7.0 overall with no individual band less than 6.5.
Completed applications should be sent (together with two photocopies) to your British Council Co-ordinator. You must NOT send the completed application form direct to the University and you must NOT send it by e-mail. Any applications sent direct to the University of Essex or by email will not be considered.
Ensure that you retain a copy of your application for yourself.
HOW DOES THE SELECTION PROCEDURE WORK?
All applications will be sent by the British Council representatives to the Human Rights Centre at Essex. Applications will be considered by selectors for the programmes at the University who will prepare a short-list of applicants who will be invited for interview. By the end of March 2009 applicants will be informed as to whether they have been invited for interview and later on as to whether they would need to sit for an English language test. It is expected that these will take place in April/May 2009.
The final decisions as to which applicants will be offered scholarships will not be taken at the time of the interviews. These decisions will be taken later by the Human Rights Centre (in conjunction with OSI and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office). It is hoped to inform all applicants by the end of June 2009 as to whether they have been successful, or not.
Please note that successful applicants will be requested to attend a 1-month Pre-Academic Summer Programme in July or August 2009. The exact date and location of Pre-Academic Summer Programme will be available at a later stage of the selection process.
HOW CAN I FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE UNIVERSITY OF ESSEX AND THE HUMAN RIGHTS CENTRE?
First of all, please make use of all of the written documentation available to you: these Guidance Notes, the University web pages, etc.
If you have any queries about these Guidance Notes, then you should contact either:
Your local British Council Office
British Council
Rowena Rompas
Indonesia Stock Exchange, Tower II, 16th floor.
Jl Jenderal Sudirman Kav. 52-53. Jakarta 12190, Indonesia.
Tel : +62 (0)21 5155561
Fax : +62 (0)21 5155562
or
Margareta Mamaliga, Open Society Foundation London Fax or e-mail only:
Fax: + 44 (0) 207 031 0217
E-mail: Margareta.Mamaliga@osf-eu.org
If you have any academic questions, then you should direct these to the Human Rights Centre at the University of Essex.
Emma Rix
Human Rights Education Programme Administrator
Human Rights Centre
University of Essex
Wivenhoe Park
Colchester
Essex CO4 3SQ
UK
Tel: + 44 (0) 1206 872529
Fax: + 44 (0) 1206 873627
E-mail: <hrep@essex.ac.uk> More information can be obtain at: