Two girls from Pune have been awarded full scholarships by the British Council at two of the most prominent British universities. While Sayali Chavan received a scholarship to study MSc in Computer Science from Loughborough University, Areeba Patel was given the scholarship to study MRes in Cancer Biology (Cancer Informatics track) from Imperial College London. They were among the 100 Indian women who had received the scholarships at 44 UK universities as part of the organisation’s 70th anniversary in India.
“It is a huge honour to be recognised by an international university. Through the entire process of assessment before the announcement, the representatives of British Council interviewing us wanted to know us as individuals and know more about our aspirations. They did not just rely making a judgement based on grades,” said 23-year-old Sayali Chavan. She had completed BTech in electronics and telecommunications from Smt Kashibai Navale College of Engineering, Pune.
The British Council 70th anniversary scholarships is the first of its kind, solely focusing on uplifting and encouraging higher education among women and covers tuition fees for a one-year master’s course in science, technology, engineering or mathematics during the 2018-19 academic year. The award ceremony for the same was held on March 18.
Speaking on the nature of the scholarship, the second Pune scholar, 23-year-old Areeba Patel said, “It was a month long process, by the end of which we got to know that we had been selected for the scholarships. While the respective universities are to give a 10 per cent discount on the tuition fee, the remaining 90 per cent will be covered by the British Council as part of the scholarship.” Patel completed her BTech from Sinhgad College of Engineering.
{{/usCountry}}Speaking on the nature of the scholarship, the second Pune scholar, 23-year-old Areeba Patel said, “It was a month long process, by the end of which we got to know that we had been selected for the scholarships. While the respective universities are to give a 10 per cent discount on the tuition fee, the remaining 90 per cent will be covered by the British Council as part of the scholarship.” Patel completed her BTech from Sinhgad College of Engineering.
{{/usCountry}}The programme, which is worth almost Rs 18 crore,and the organisation’s largest investment in a scholarship programme in India, had scholars coming in from several parts of India. While 44 students were selected from south India, 21 were from north India. 20 students from west India, nine from east India and six from northeast India were also awarded the scholarship.