OSI/FCO Chevening/University of Essex Scholarships in Human Rights

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 programs offered are the MA in the Theory and Practice of Human Rights, the MA in Human Rights and Cultural Diversity, the LLM in International Human Rights Law, and the LLM in International Human Rights and Humanitarian 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 Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Indonesia, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Palestine (Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel are also eligible to apply ), Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.

Applicants must:

be nationals of and normally resident in one of the selected countries in the academic year in which they apply for the award; applicants who are temporarily out of the country (for a total period of less than three consecutive months) may be treated as being resident;
display intellectual ability and leadership potential;
already hold (or expect to hold by the time of taking up the award) a relevant first degree of an equivalent standard to a good UK second-class Honours degree;
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) at the time of taking up the award;
previous relevant practical experience will be considered;
have not already received or be currently receiving financial benefit from a previous HMG fully funded scholarship;
commit to returning to their home country at the end of their scholarship period to continue their studies/ work there.
Preference will be given to applicants who have not previously studied outside of their home country.

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 local OSI representations in the region and the participating universities will not be eligible to apply for these awards.

Application Process

Application forms (together with information about the courses at the Human Rights Centre) are available from your local Educational Advising Centre/Soros Foundation or British Council, or the British Embassy if you are applying in Turkmenistan (see full contact details for your local scholarship coordinators below). Applicants must 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. Illegible applications will be unlikely to succeed.
References must be academic (from the institution where applicant's degree was earned). 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. Candidates should remain within the 500 word guideline as only the first 500 words of the statement will be taken into consideration.
If an application for a scholarship for the MA or LLM is unsuccessful, the program cannot subsequently forward it to the university for consideration. Applicants who want to make a separate application to the university should contact the relevant department.
Applicants must reach the required level of English language. This should be at least 7.0 IELTS overall with no individual band less than 6.5.

Completed applications should be sent to the local scholarship coordinator (see below full contact details of your local scholarship coordinators).

Applicants must not send the completed application form direct to the university and nor send it by e-mail. Any applications sent direct to the University of Essex or by email will not be considered.

Candidates should retain a copy of their application.

Deadline

January 18, 2010

Selection

All applications will be sent by the Soros Foundation/Educational Advising Center/British Council/British Embassy in Turkmenistan to the Human Rights Centre at Essex. Applications will be considered by selectors for the university programs who will prepare a shortlist of applicants to be invited for interview. By the end of March 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 late March/early April 2010.

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 should be informed by the end of May 2010 as to whether they have been successful or not.

Please note that all successful applicants will be invited to attend a one-month preparatory academic writing summer school in August 2010. The Network Scholarship Programs' (NSP) Pre-Academic Summer Program is designed to prepare NSP grantees for a successful academic experience in the UK. Successful applicants will be provided with the opportunity to refine their research and writing skills through intensive courses in academic writing and social sciences. The exact date and location of the summer school will be available at a later stage in 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 (included within the university's application pack).

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 Soros Foundation/Educational Advising Center; British Council; British Embassy in Turkmenistan; 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 Revill,
Human Rights Education Programme Administrator
University of Essex
Wivenhoe Park
Colchester
Essex CO4 3SQ
Tel: +44 (0) 1206 872529
Fax: +44 (0) 1206 873627
Email: hrep@essex.ac.uk

Local Soros Foundations/Educational Advising Centers

Armenia
Open Society Institute Assistance Foundation-Armenia
Tumanyan Street 2nd blind alley, House 7/1
Yerevan
Armenia
Tel./Fax: 374 10 533862; 536758
Email: info@osi.am
Contact: Anna Gevorgyan: anna@osi.am

Azerbaijan
Baku Education Information Centre
Baku Education Information Center
71 Aliovsat Guliyev str.
Baku AZ1009
Tel./Fax: (994 12) 4482845/46
Contact: Bahar Haji-zada: bhaji-zada@beic.az

Georgia
International Student Advising Center
Open Society Georgia Foundation
10/a Chovelidze Str.
380008 Tbilisi
Georgia
Tel: (995 32) 938999, 250463
Fax: (995 32) 291052
Contact: Natia Nanava: natia@isac.osgf.ge

Indonesia
British Council
Jakarta Stock Exchange Tower II, 16th floor
Jl. Jenderal Sudirman Kav. 52-53
Jakarta 12190
Tel. 62 (0)21 515 5561
Fax 62 (0)21 515 5562
Contact: Rowena Rompas: rowena.rompas@britishcouncil.or.id

Jordan
British Council
Address:
Rainbow Street - Off First Circle
PO Box 634
Amman 11118
Jordan
Tel.: 962 6 4636147
Fax: 962 6 4656413
Contact persons:
Safa AL-Qudah: safa.alqudah@britishcouncil.org.jo
Alaa Qattam: Alaa.Qattam@britishcouncil.org.jo

Kazakhstan
Educational Development Center
"BILIM-Central Asia"
Masanchi St., 83, Almaty
050022, Kazakhstan
Tel. +7 727 2597620 [22]
Fax +7 727 2597622
Contact: Larissa Gorbunova: lgorbunova@bilim.kz

Palestine
British Council
31 Nablus Road
PO Box 19136
Jerusalem 91191
Tel: 00 972 (2) 626 7111
Fax: 00 972 (2) 628 3021
Contact: Merna Kassis: Merna.Kassis@ps.britishcouncil.org

Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel should submit applications to:
British Council
Crystal House
12 Hahilazon Street P.O. Box 3302,
Ramat Gan 52136
Israel Tel. +972 (0)3 6113607
Fax +972 (0)3 6113640
Contact: Varda Bachrach: Varda.Bachrach@britishcouncil.org.il

Tajikistan
Open Society Institute Assistance Foundation-Tajikistan
Trade and Business Center "VEFA"
37/1 Bokhtar street, 4th floor, room #404
734002, Dushanbe, Tajikistan
Tel: (+992 47) 441-07-45,441-07-46, 441-07-47,441-07-48
Fax: (+992 47) 441-07-29
Contact: Firuza Tursunova: tfiruza@osi.tajik.net

Turkey
Human Rights Law Research Centre
Bilgi University
Kurtulusderesi C. No: 47
34440 Dolapdere
Istanbul
Turkey
Tel. 90 212 311 52 76
Fax: 90 212 253 89 11
Contact: Seda Peker: speker@bilgi.edu.tr

Turkmenistan
British Embassy
Press and Public Affairs Section
Address:
Four Points Ak Altin Hotel
301-308 Office Building
Ashgabat
Turkmenistan
Tel. +993 12 363462/63/64
Contact: Press and Public Affairs Section: beasbppa@online.tm

Uzbekistan
Educational Advising Center
Shymkent Ilyaeva Str
Kazakhstan
496012
Tel: (7 3252) 211981
Contact: Arman Turdaliyev: aturdaliyev@mail.ru

Uzbak applicants may also submit applications to the British Embassy in Tashkent:
British Embassy Tashkent
Tel: +99871 1206288
Fax: +99871 1206549
Contact: Dildora Nishanova: Dildora.Nishanova@fco.gov.uk