Students from Chile will be eligible for fully funded scholarships to study at Queen Mary University of London (QMUL), thanks to a new partnership with the Chilean government.
The scheme is co funded by QMUL and CONICYT, the government scholarships body in Chile, and will enable Chilean postgraduate students to study any subject at QMUL.
The scholarships aim to remove economic barriers to a UK postgraduate education and will provide full overseas tuition fees, the living cost stipend, flights and visa costs.
Professor Colin Bailey, President and Principal of QMUL, said: “We are delighted to be expanding our links in Chile and Latin America, and to grow our already thriving community of Latin American students. This new scholarship is particularly exciting because it will enable students to study across the whole spectrum of academic disciplines at Queen Mary.”
Other UK universities in partnership with CONICYT include the University of Cambridge, Durham University and University College London.
Pía Slanzi, a Chilean student who graduated from Queen Mary in 2015 with an LLM in Environmental Law, now works as an attorney in a tax consulting office in Chile, dealing with international and domestic tax and corporate affairs. “Studying for my masters at QMUL was extraordinary and opened up many career opportunities; both during my year as a postgraduate student and once I graduated. For instance, I took a position as legal intern for a worldwide NGO, which gave me the chance to participate in different forums, including the United Nations”, she said.
“My studies developed my critical thinking in many legal areas and gave me the opportunity to have discussions with expert professors and capable classmates, who were important guides during this academic journey.
“Studying at a London university gave me the opportunity to be at the centre of legal knowledge. London universities are well known for their prestige, competitiveness and multicultural environment - features that were crucial for my decision.”
CONICYT is a government agency responsible for coordinating, promoting and aiding higher education in Chile. It is the central body in Chile for enabling Chilean students to study abroad and will offer 360 PhD and 400 Masters scholarships for 2018 entry.
Sharapiya Kakimova, International Relations Coordinator for CONICYT, said: “Great Britain is the number one destination for CONICYT grantees who want to undertake their graduate studies abroad. We are happy to sign this agreement with Queen Mary, a university that offers great research opportunities in many fields, especially in health and humanities.”
The first scholars are expected to join QMUL in 2018, with more expected in 2019.
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