OSI/FCO Chevening/University of Essex Scholarships in Human Rights (for Select Islamic Countries)

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 master's.

The scholarships will enable suitably qualified students to pursue taught postgraduate programs within the Human Rights Centre at the University of Essex. The two programs 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.

Eligibility

The scholarships are open to applicants from Indonesia, Jordan, and the Occupied Palestinian Territories (Palestinians normally resident in the West Bank or Gaza Strip, including East Jerusalem, as well as Arab citizens of Israel are eligible to apply).

Applicants should:

be nationals of and normally resident in one of the selected countries or regions 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;
already hold (or expect to hold by the time of taking up the award) a relevant first degree with good grades;
have passed an IELTS test at an appropriate level (this must be at least 7.0 overall with no individual band less than 6.5) by the time of taking up an award; previous relevant practical experience will be considered;
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 of be currently receiving financial benefit from a previous HMG funded scholarship;
should not be employees, employees’ relatives (of 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.

Application

Application forms (together with information about the courses at the Human Rights Centre) are available from the local British Council office (see addresses below).

Applicants will have to complete a Graduate Admissions Applications Pack. (This requires submitting a number of additional documents, such as academic references.) It may be that applicants will not be given an original copy of the Graduate Admissions Form, but rather a photocopy of the form. This is equally valid.
Please note the following:

Incomplete applications will not be considered; four complete copies (the original and three photocopies) of the application must be received.
The overall impression of the 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 the application is illegible, it is unlikely to succeed.
References must be academic (from the institution where the applicant received his/her degree). You may, if you wish, include a professional reference in addition to the two academic references.
Statement of Purpose should be clear and concise and hand-written. Applicants should remain within the 500 word guideline, as only the first 500 words of the statement will be taken into consideration.
If candidate's application for a scholarship for the MA or LLM is unsuccessful, the program cannot subsequently forward the application to the university for consideration. If candidates want to make a separate application to the University, they should contact the relevant department.
Applicants must reach the required level of English language. This should be at least 7.0 overall with no individual band less than 6.5 IELTS.
Completed applications should be sent to the nearest British Council scholarship coordinator in applicants' home country. Candidates must not send the completed application form direct to the university nor send it by e-mail. Any applications sent direct to the University of Essex or by email will not be considered.
Applicants should ensure that they retain a copy of their application.

Deadline

All necessary documents must be submitted to the British Council (see below for contact details) by Monday, January 19, 2009, at the latest (one original set, plus three complete photocopied sets).

Selection

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 university programs 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 English language tests. It is expected that these will take place in March/early April 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 OSF and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office). All applicants will likely be notified 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 one-month Pre-Academic Summer Program in July or August 2009. The exact date and location of Pre-Academic Summer Program will be available at a later stage of the selection process.

About the University of Essex

Read the University of Essex "Introduction to the Graduate School" booklet and the Human Rights Centre leaflet.

Visit the university's homepage at www.essex.ac.uk or www.sx.ac.uk.

Visit the Human Rights Centre homepage at www.essex.ac.uk/hrc or www.sx.ac.uk/hrc.

Contact Information

Please make use of all of the available written documentation: these Guidance Notes, the university's "Introduction to the Graduate School" booklet, and the Guidance Notes included within the university's application pack.

For queries about these Guidance Notes, contact either:

The local British Council Office; or
Margareta Mamaliga, UK Programs Coordinator, Network Scholarship Programs, OSF, via fax or email only.
Fax: +44 20 7031 0201
Email: Margareta.Mamaliga@osf-eu.org

For academic questions, contact 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 UK
Essex CO4 3SQ
Tel: + 44 (0) 1206 872529
Fax: + 44 (0) 1206 873627
Email: hrep@essex.ac.uk

Local British Council Offices

Indonesia
British Council
Jakarta Stock Exchange
Tower II, 16 th Floor
Jl. Jenderal Sudirman Kav 52-53
Jakarta 12190
Indonesia
Phone: +62 21 515 5561
Fax: +62 21 515 5562
Contact Person: Rowena Rompas
Email: Rowena.rompas@britishcouncil.or.id

Jordan
British Council
Rainbow Street—Off First Circle
PO Box 634
Amman
Jordan
11118
Phone: +962 6 4636147
Fax: +962 6 4656413
Contact Person: Safa Al-Qudah
Email: Safa.Alqudah@britishcouncil.org.jo

Palestinian Territories
British Council
31 Nablus Road
PO Box 19136
Jerusalem 91191
Phone: +972 (2) 626 7111
Fax +972 (2) 628 3021
Contact Person: Merna Kassis
Email: Merna.Kassis@ps.britishcouncil.org

Palestinian Arab Citizens of Israel
British Council
Crystal House
12 Hahilazon Street
PO BOX 3302
Ramat Gan 52136
Israel
T: +972 (0)3 6113602
F: +972 (0)3 611640
Contact person: Claire Levy
Email: claire.levy@britishcouncil.org.il