OSI/FCO Chevening/University of Manchester (Politics)

The deadline for scholarship applications for the 2009-10 academic year has passed. Please check back again in fall 2009 for a new call for applications for the 2010-11 academic year.

Twelve-month scholarships from September 2009 are offered to enable scholars to pursue a taught master's programs in politics (School of Social Sciences) at the University of Manchester. Each scholarship provides twelve months’ tuition fees at the University of Manchester, a stipend to cover living costs (for one person only), and return air travel from the scholar’s home country. On completion of the scholarship, scholars will return to their home countries.

Three masters programs are offered in Political Science; International Politics; and Human Rights. Within Political Science, applicants choose among five pathways (European Politics and Policy; Governance and Public Policy; Political Theory; Gender Politics and Policy; Democracy and Elections); within International Politics there is a choice of two pathways (International Political Economy; International Relations); and there are also two pathways within Human Rights (Political Science; Law/Political Science). Each of these masters programs will run from mid-September 2009 to September 2010 and will provide students with:

general research training in the discipline of political science (qualitative and quantitative research methodologies; research design; and computing skills) and
specialized knowledge and skills in their chosen field of study.

In each pathway students may opt to follow either the research route (with an enhanced research component) or the standard route (with more substantive courses in the chosen field of study).

Within their chosen program students will take a total of eight courses (four courses per semester). These are taught in weekly seminars (from mid-September 2009 to mid-May 2010) and assessed by written work and oral presentations. To complete the MA degree they will write a dissertation of 12-15,000 words over the summer of 2010. For further information on the programs and the research and standard routes, please visit the University’s homepage at www.manchester.ac.uk.

Deadline

The deadline for application submissions was January 30, 2009

Eligibility

The scholarships are open to applicants from Belarus, Mongolia, Russia (Nizhny Novgorod, Irkutsk, Samara, Far East only), and Uzbekistan.

Applicants will normally be expected to:

be both nationals of and resident in one of the four selected countries;
already hold (or expect to hold by the time of taking up the award) a degree of an equivalent standard to at least a good UK second-class Honours degree;
be able to display intellectual ability and leadership potential;
have a good command of both written and spoken English (the University expects its post graduate students to have at least TOEFL 623 or IELTS 7 before commencing their study). The normal entry requirement is TOEFL 623 with a 5 in the TWE or IELTS 7 with a 7 in writing;
be committed to returning to their home country at the end of their scholarship period to continue their studies/ work there;
not have already received or be currently receiving financial benefit from a previous HMG funded scholarship;
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 their home country.

Application Process

Only the application forms provided by the Soros foundations or Educational Advising Centers should be used. A completed application must include:

Three copies of the completed application form;
Two referees' reports in signed and sealed envelopes;
Transcripts of undergraduate and any postgraduate study;
Statement of Purpose;
Evidence of English Language ability (e.g., IELTS, TOEFL certificate) if available.

Only complete applications will be considered.

Deadline

Three copies of the completed application forms and other documents (one original set and two photocopies) must be returned to the local Soros foundation or Educational Advising Center by January 30, 2009.

APPLICATIONS RECEIVED AFTER THE CLOSING DATE WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED.

Selection Procedure

The applicant's local Soros Educational Advising Center or foundation will forward the applications to the University of Manchester. Academic staff at the University will compile a shortlist.
Shortlisted applicants will be invited for an interview and an English language test in their home country in April 2009. Candidates should keep their schedules free for this period of time. The EAC or national foundation will inform applicants in March/April 2009 whether they have been shortlisted or not.
Interviews will be carried out by representatives of Open Society Foundation and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
Final awards will be decided jointly by the university, the FCO, and OSF. Candidates will be informed in mid-June. Certain candidates may be offered reserve places for scholarships, which means that there is a possibility that they will be given a scholarship, if one of the successful candidates withdraws from the program. The scholarship period begins in late September 2009.

Please note that the local Soros Educational Advising Center or national foundation staff are not involved at all in the decision-making process. Staff will tell candidates as soon as possible whether or not they have been successful. Please understand they will not be able to inform candidates until they have been told by the University of Manchester and OSF.

Please note that successful applicants may be requested to attend a one-month preparatory academic writing summer school in July or August 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 national foundation will be able to make a copy available for consultation, although it may not be taken home.
Visit the University’s homepage, www.manchester.ac.uk, and in particular the homepage, www.socialsciences.manchester.ac.uk/politics/. (Within the menu click on "postgraduate" and then on "MA" for details on the modules on each program pathway.

Further Information

Please make use of all of the available written documentation available: these guidance notes, the university’s Graduate Prospectus, and the guidance notes included with the university’s application form.

For queries about these guidance notes, please contact either:

the local Soros Educational Advising Center or national Soros foundation (see details below); or
Margareta Mamaliga, UK Program Coordinator, Network Scholarship Programs, Open Society Foundation London
Fax or Email only:
Fax: +44 20 7031 0201
Email: Margareta.Mamaliga@osf-eu.org

Academic questions should be directed to the Graduate Centre in the School of Social Sciences, to either:

the academic coordinator, Dr Jill Lovecy (jill.lovecy@manchester.ac.uk) or
the Postgraduate Admissions Officer Ms. Vicky Barnes (Vicky.Barnes@manchester.ac.uk).

Local Soros Educational Advising Center or Foundation

Application forms may be obtained from the following addresses:

Belarus
Postal Address:
5th floor Cambridge House
100 Cambridge Grove
London W6 0LE
United Kingdom
Fax: (+44)20 7031 0201
Contact persons:
Kevin Reiling: kevinreiling@yahoo.com
Margareta Mamaliga: Margareta.Mamaliga@osf-eu.org

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

Russia
New Eurasia Foundation
3/9, 9rd Syromyatnichesky per.
Moscow 105120
Russia
Tel: 7 (495) 970 1567 (ext. 146)
Fax: 7 (495) 970 1568
Contact person:
Natalia Ushakova: nushakova@neweurasia.ru

Uzbekistan
Educational Development Center "Bilim–Central Asia"
25, Gani Ilyaev Str., Shymkent
486012, Kazakhstan
Tel/Fax (+3252) 211981
Contact person:
Arman Turdaliyev: aturdaliyev@mail.ru

Uzbek applicants may also submit their applications to the British Embassy in Tashkent:
British Embassy Tashkent
Tel: +99871 120 15 00
Fax: +99871 120 15 20
Contact person:
Dildora Nishanova Dildora.Nishanova@fco.gov.uk