OSI/FCO Chevening/University of Manchester (Economic Studies)

The scholarships provide opportunities for independent postgraduate study in the United Kingdom for students 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 enable suitably qualified students from selected countries to pursue a taught one-year MSc program in Economics at the University of Manchester, UK. The scholarships will be awarded in the areas of Economics, Economics and Econometrics, and Development Economics and Policy.

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.

Deadline

January 30, 2009

Eligibility

The scholarships are open to applicants from Mongolia and Tajikistan.

Applicants should:

be nationals of and normally resident in Mongolia or Tajikistan 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 or, if the latter condition is not satisfied, a Masters degree specializing in Economics and/or Econometrics; a “relevant” first degree must have a major in Economics and/or Econometrics (not Accounting or Management) and examined courses in mathematics and/or mathematical economic analysis;
have passed a TOEFL or IELTS test at an appropriate level by the time of taking up an award; the normal entry requirement is TOEFL 623 with a 5 in the TWE or IELTS 7 with a 7 in writing. Applicants meeting this requirement will be expected to finish the Summer School with a minimum "Pass". However, applications who have only achieved a TOEFL score of 600 with a 4.5 in writing or IELTS of 6.5 with 6 in writing will be expected to achieve a "High Pass" minimum in the Summer School. Please note that applicants who do not meet the absolute minimum will not be accepted for any of the programmes.
be committed to returning to their home country at the end of their scholarship period to continue their studies/ work there;
display intellectual ability and leadership potential;
should not have already received or 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 go towards applicants who have not previously studied outside of their home country.

Application Process

Application forms, together with information about the Economics courses at the University of Manchester, are available from the Educational Advising Center in Mongolia and OSI-Tajikistan (see contact details below).

Please note that to be considered for a scholarship, candidates must apply through the local Educational Advising Center (EAC)/local foundation—candidates may not apply directly to the University or online. It is very important to read all of the guidance notes included with the application form.

Applicants must submit three copies of the application form, together with all the other required documents to their local (EAC)/local foundation by January 30, 2009. An original application pack plus two photocopies must be submitted.

Note: Candidates applying for the MSc in Economics, MSc in Econometrics or the MSc in Economics and Econometrics must submit brief course outlines of the most recent econometrics, statistics and mathematical courses that they have taken, plus a short list of topics and course texts (one page per course unit and no more than two course units) along with their application form. The admissions tutor will not look at any applications that do not include these additional supporting documents.

Selection

An independent committee of representatives of the OSF and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office will make an initial selection.
By mid/late March, short-listed applicants will be invited for an interview and English language test (IELTS). You should be available for interview at any point during this period of time. You will be informed by the EAC or Foundation in early March 2009 whether you have been short-listed or not.
Interviews will be carried out by representatives of OSI and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
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 University of Manchester in conjunction with OSF and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Applicants should be informed by the beginning of June as to whether they have been successful or not.

Please note that all successful applicants may be requested to attend a one-month preparatory academic writing summer school in July or August of 2009. The exact date and location of the summer school will be available at a later stage of the selection process.

About the University of Manchester

Read the University’s Graduate Admissions Prospectus. The local Soros Educational Advising Center or foundation will be able to make copies available for consultation. Applicants will not normally be able to take these copies home, however.

Visit the university’s homepage, www.manchester.ac.uk/, or the Economic Studies page, www.socialsciences.manchester.ac.uk/economics/, or the School of Environment and Development page, www.sed.manchester.ac.uk/postgraduate.

Contact Information

Please use all of the available written documentation: these guidance notes, the University’s Graduate Prospectus, and the guidance notes included within the university’s application pack.

For queries about these guidance notes, contact either:

the local EAC or Soros foundation; or
Margareta Mamaliga, UK Programs Coordinator, Network Scholarship Programs, Open Society Foundation London, via fax or email only:
Fax: +44 20 7031 0201
Email: Margareta.Mamaliga@osf-eu.org

Academic questions for Economics or Economics and Econometrics should be directed to:

Professor Keith Blackburn
Senior Lecturer
Economics
University of Manchester
Manchester M13 9PL
Tel: 0161-275-3908
Fax: 0161 275 2450
www.socialsciences.manchester.ac.uk/disciplines/economics/
keith.blackburn@manchester.ac.uk

For Development Economics and Policy, please contact:

Ed Amann
Senior Lecturer
Economics
University of Manchester M13 9PL
Tel: 0161 275 4277
Fax: 0161 275 4812
Ed.amann@manchester.ac.uk

Local EAC or Soros Foundation

Application forms may be obtained from the following addresses.

Mongolia
Educational Advising Center
Sukhbaatar District, Khoroo 8, Khoroolol 11,
Students Street, MKM Building 24, 1st Floor
Ulaanbaatar 210648, Mongolia
Tel: (976 11) 31 90 16
Fax: (976 11) 32 69 41
Contact person:
Ariunaa Enkhtur: ariunaa@earcmn.org

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 person:
Gulnora Choukourbekova: gulnora@osi.tajik.net