Online details of all Scholarships for the MPP
Ten scholarships available for study at Oxford’s Blavatnik School of Government
The University of Oxford has announced that ten new scholarships are to be made available to graduates admitted for study at the Blavatnik School of Government. It means at least one-third of the students in the School’s first cohort in 2012 could each receive full funding of up to a maximum of £47,250.
The scholarships programme is being developed to ensure that the very best students in the world attend the Blavatnik School, regardless of their financial circumstances. The ten scholarships will cover all tuition fees and living costs for students taking the School’s innovative one-year Master of Public Policy degree.
Five of the scholarships for the school will be jointly funded by the Weidenfeld Scholarships and Leadership Programme, administered by the London-based Institute for Strategic Dialogue, and the Chevening Scholarship scheme, funded by the British government’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office. The Chevening-Weidenfeld Scholarships will be open to candidates from Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, North Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, India and Indonesia.
The University of Oxford and the University of Hong Kong (HKU) have also announced a new scholarship for two Hong Kong students each year, funded by Hong Kong philanthropist Walter Kwok Ping Sheung. Additionally, the Blavatnik School of Government will fund three scholarships for successful candidates from any part of the world.
Professor Andrew Hamilton, Vice-chancellor of the University of Oxford, said: ‘We are enormously grateful for the funding opportunities provided to those wanting to study at the Blavatnik School of Government. We hope this very generous funding package will attract the world’s very best students to Oxford where they will be trained as future world leaders, whether in government, non-governmental organisations or the private sector.’
The Blavatnik School’s Master of Public Policy (MPP) is an intensive 50-week course running from mid-September to the end of August. It combines Oxford’s renowned academic excellence and traditional teaching with practical skills workshops, intensive modules, and master classes taught by senior officials and policy experts. In future, the School also plans to offer executive education courses, allowing current practitioners to benefit from the Blavatnik School’s global approach and Oxford’s best policy research.
The School is already accepting applications and is looking to admit practitioners and students from across the world who have an outstanding academic background and aspire to contribute to the public good in their country, region or internationally. The first round of applications for 2012 will close on 20 January 2012 followed, if necessary, by a second round of applications with a deadline of 9 March 2012.
The Blavatnik School of Government will begin accepting students in 2012, thanks to a £75 million endowment by American industrialist and philanthropist Leonard Blavatnik – one of the most generous donations in the University’s 900-year history. The University is also contributing resources, including underwriting an additional £26 million for the School's new building. The building, designed by internationally renowned Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron, is scheduled to be completed by the summer of 2015.
The School will teach the practice of government and leadership in ways which will strengthen communities, create opportunities and foster cooperation across the world through a series of courses with a unique balance of the humanities, social sciences, law, science, technology, health, finance, medicine and ethics.
For more information, please contact the University of Oxford Press Office on +44 (0)1865 280534 or email press.office@admin.ox.ac.uk
NOTES FOR EDITORS
*The Blavatnik School of Government
The Blavatnik School of Government will develop tomorrow's leaders, in both the private and public sectors, through an original, multidisciplinary curriculum. It will address complex global problems in new and practical ways, drawing on the talents of top teachers and researchers from across the world.
The School will be anchored across humanities; medical sciences; social sciences; and mathematical, physical and life sciences. Students will be trained to offer a practically-informed and critical perspective on a wide range of issues, spanning democracy, law and security, history, finance, economic governance, science and the environment, demographics, public health and social policy.
The School will offer a full-time one-year Master’s degree for graduates with an outstanding academic record who want to embrace an integrated approach to public policy. The course will also include practically focused training in negotiation, budgeting and accounting, strategic communications and evaluation.
A £75 million gift from American industrialist and philanthropist Leonard Blavatnik founded the School, which aims to ensure better government, stronger societies, and richer human opportunities across the world, through first-class education and research. The School’s innovative Master’s curriculum takes a truly global and interdisciplinary approach. World leaders including British Prime Minister David Cameron, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, former US president Bill Clinton, former South African president Nelson Mandela, and former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan have expressed their support for the School.
For more information, go to: www.bsg.ox.ac.uk
*Lord Weidenfeld of Chelsea, GBE
Lord Weidenfeld has a longstanding association with Oxford University, and founded the Institute for Strategic Dialogue , a London-based think tank, in 2006. The following year, in partnership with Sir Ronald Grierson, he established the Weidenfeld Scholarships and Leadership Programme at Oxford, which provides full fees and living expenses to graduate students, who are mostly from transitional economies in Europe’s wider neighbourhood. Lord Weidenfeld is an Honorary Fellow of St Anne's College, Oxford and of St Peter's College, Oxford, and was awarded the Degree of Doctor of Letters, honoris causa, by the University in 2010. A noted publisher and philanthropist, Lord Weidenfeld was knighted in 1969, raised to the peerage in 1976, and appointed Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire (GBE) in 2011. His enormous contribution to European diplomacy and cultural exchange has been recognized by many countries over the years. Lord Weidenfeld is Co-Chairman of the Blavatnik School’s International Advisory Board, which will bring together a distinguished group of women and men who have achieved international renown for their leadership and contributions to public life worldwide.
*Oxford scholarships
For Oxford graduate students starting in 2010/11, nearly £60m in scholarship funding was awarded by the collegiate University, its donors and other external organisations such as UK Research Councils. Oxford has a wide range of generous graduate scholarships available: In 2010/11, 31 per cent of all new graduate students and 58 per cent of new doctoral students received full funding for their courses. A further 10 per cent of all new graduates received partial funding towards the cost of study. The University is committed to investing even more in postgraduate scholarships to compete with its top international peers. More information about graduate scholarships and the Oxford Funding can be found at: http://www.ox.ac.uk/feesandfunding/prospectivegrad/scholarships/
