British Council announces STEM scholarships for 2022
New Delhi : British Council, the UK’s international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations announced the second cohort of British Council Scholarships for Women in STEM. Over 100 scholarships are available to women STEM scholars from Asia and the Americas, out of which 65 scholarships are reserved for women STEM scholars from India and other South Asian countries, awarded on merit basis with no country-specific cap. Selected scholars will be able.to obtain a master’s degree or an Early Academic Fellowship at a UK university, and the scholarship will cover tuition fees, monthly stipend, travel costs, visa and health coverage fees, as well as funding for dependents if any scholar wishes to travel with their children.
The first global cohort of 119 scholars enrolled on their chosen course in the autumn session of 2021 and included 19 women candidates from India. With these scholarships, British Council continues to support women looking to acquire global credentials in STEM (science, technology, engineering or math) at a university in the UK.
Barbara Wickham OBE, Director India, British Council said, “Based on the overwhelmingly positive experience and feedback from earlier scholarships, we are excited to offer this fourth round of scholarships for women in STEM. With the UK widely recognised as home to some of the world’s top-ranked universities offering quality programmes in STEM, we hope to enable women from across India to access a master’s degree or an academic fellowship at leading UK universities.”
“The British Council is committed to girls’ education and addressing gender imbalance in science, technology and innovation, including in academia. Since 2018, over 180 Indian women have been able to pursue a master’s in STEM subjects in the UK and these new scholarships will support even more women in making transformational changes in their lives. And then go on to make a mark in the world and inspire future generations.”
As part of the programme, Indian women STEM scholars can apply for master’s courses and Early Academic Fellowships across 13 UK universities in courses like Data Science, Environmental Science, Engineering, Public Health systems, Information Technology, Renewable Energy & Energy Management and Project Management. The scholarship is also open to women with dependants to apply, with extra support. Applications for the British Council Scholarships for Women in STEM are open until 31 March 2022, though students are encouraged to check individual university deadlines.
For more details about the eligibility criteria for the scholarship, or other information including a full list of participating UK universities, available courses and university-specific deadlines, please visit:
www.britishcouncil.org/study-work-abroad/in-uk/scholarship-women-stem
Addressing gender equality in STEM education/ careers
British Council has been actively involved in promoting gender equality in the field of science to create more opportunities for women STEM researchers.
British Council and Department of Science and Technology (DST, Government of India) announced Gender Advancement for Transforming Institutions (GATI) initiative, in February 2020. This initiative will result in introduction of a gender equality framework for Indian higher education institutions to enable an environment for equal participation of women in Science, Technology, Engineering, Medicine and Mathematics (STEMM) at all levels. British Council is enabling ties between Indian stakeholders and UK institutions to strengthen institutional competency, in order to narrow down the gender gap in STEMM education.