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The scholarships
of Bill Gates Univ Cambridge Inggris |
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In October
2000, the
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation of
Seattle, Washington, USA announced a donation to the University
of Cambridge of $210 million to establish the Gates Cambridge
Trust.
This benefaction
creates in perpetuity an international scholarship programme to
enable outstanding graduate students from outside the United
Kingdom to study at the University of Cambridge. The Trustees
are required to award scholarships on the basis of a person's
intellectual ability, leadership capacity and desire to use
their knowledge to contribute to society throughout the world by
providing service to their communities and applying their
talents and knowledge to improve the lives of others.
The
University of Cambridge is one of the
leading Universities of Europe. It has been a centre of learning
since the early thirteenth-century. Building on a distinguished
history of academic achievement over nearly eight hundred years,
it is currently engaged in a wide range of teaching and research
in most major disciplines. The University of Cambridge draws
strength from its Colleges, providing academic and social
support for study at all levels, and facilitating the easy
exchange and development of ideas across and between
conventional disciplinary boundaries. Gates Cambridge Scholars
will belong to a College and will take a full part in collegiate
life.
The award of a
Gates Cambridge Scholarship provides excellent opportunities for
personal intellectual development, living and working alongside
other similarly outstanding students from the UK and from many
other countries. There are more than 5,000 graduate students in
Cambridge and more than half of them normally live outside the
UK. The Colleges and University Departments make possible the
creation of many overlapping and intersecting social networks,
and allow the establishment of connections and friendships that
last for life.
Since the
inaugural class of Gates Scholars in 2001, the Trust has awarded
828 Gates Cambridge Scholarships to students from 85 different
countries.
There are usually
about 250 Gates Scholars in residence at any one time who are
studying the full range of disciplines across the University and
who are members of each of the 31 Cambridge Colleges.
Although there
may be variation in the actual number of awards made each year,
the Trust seeks to elect approximately 100 new scholars
annually.
At present, there
are over 550 Gates alumni spread throughout the world.
Competition for
admission to the University of Cambridge and for Gates Cambridge
Scholarships is intense.
The University of
Cambridge has been ranked in the top three research universities
worldwide for a number of years. Typically the University
receives around 11,000 applications for graduate study each
year, of which approximately 9,000 are from non-British (i.e.
Overseas and European) applicants. The University makes about
4,600 offers of admission to graduate applicants each year, of
which around 3,400 are to non-UK students. Of the 3,400,
normally 1,500 will take up their places at Cambridge.
Departments in
Cambridge rank the very best students who have applied to them
for admission for Gates Cambridge Scholarships. The Trust then
uses these Departmental rank-ordered lists, and takes into
account other non-academic criteria such as leadership potential
and a commitment to improving the lives of others, to produce a
shortlist of candidates to be interviewed. In total, 250-300
candidates are interviewed for about 110 scholarships each year.
In selecting
Gates Cambridge Scholars, the Trust looks for students with
enthusiasm, robustness of intellect, a willingness to engage and
an appropriate humility that comes from an awareness that
nothing is ever really simple.
In particular,
Gates Scholars will be driven by the values of the Bill &
Melinda Gates Foundation, which include a commitment to reducing
inequities and improving lives around the world. The
Foundation’s mission is to increase opportunity and equity for
those most in need, particularly in the areas of health and
education, often through the use of science and technology.
The Trust expects
a good match to be made between the applicant's qualifications
and aspirations and what Cambridge has to offer. Successful
applicants will have the ability to make a significant
contribution to their discipline while in Cambridge, with a
strong aptitude for research, analysis and a creative approach
to defining and solving problems.
A Gates
Cambridge Scholarship covers the
full cost of studying at Cambridge,
namely:
-
the University Composition Fee and College
fees at the appropriate rate1
-
a maintenance
allowance for a single student (£12, 250 for 12 months at
the current 2008-09 rate; pro rata for courses shorter then
12 months)
-
the cost of the
most economical airfare from the scholar's normal country of
residence to the UK at the beginning of their course and the
cost of the most economical airfare from the UK to the
scholar's normal country of residence at the end of the
course
-
A discretionary
contribution towards the costs of supporting dependants at
Cambridge (upon application)
Once in
residence, Gates Scholars may apply for financial help with the
costs of attending conferences, undertaking fieldwork and other
activities.
Candidates for a Gates Cambridge Scholarship:
-
may be citizens
of any country outside the United Kingdom.
-
may apply to
study any subject available at the University of Cambridge.
-
must apply to
pursue one of the following full-time residential courses of
study:
-
Research
leading to the PhD degree
-
One-year
post-graduate courses (e.g. MPhil, LLM, Diploma, MBA
etc.)
-
2 year MSc
degree
-
Second
Bachelor degree as an Affiliated Student
-
MBBChir
Clinical Studies
(see
How to Apply for further
information)
-
must be admitted
to Cambridge through the University's normal academic
procedures. The Trust cannot admit students.
-
must have a first class or high second
class honours degree, or its equivalent, from a recognised
university. For universities which work according to the
North American pattern, candidates will be expected to have
excellent transcripts with high GPA scores showing evidence
of sustained achievement in study, together with the type of
academic references which speak of the candidate's
leadership potential, social commitment, intellectual
ability and why further study at Cambridge is particularly
appropriate. The Gates Cambridge Trust does not require
candidates to take a GRE test, although some Departments in
Cambridge may do so; candidates should check the relevant
section of the
Graduate Studies Prospectus.
-
must be well
prepared for the Cambridge course for which they are
applying and must meet the academic criteria for admission
specified by the University. Some courses may have
particular requirements for admission, and details of these
can be found in the relevant sections of the Graduate
Studies Prospectus for graduate applicants, or the
Undergraduate Prospectus for affiliated applicants.
(see
Graduate Studies Prospectus)
(see
Undergraduate Prospectus)
-
who are not
native speakers of English are required by the University to
provide proof of their proficiency in the English language
to meet the minimum standard required for admission to
Cambridge. For further information:
(see
English language requirements for graduate applicants)
(see
English language requirements for affiliated applicants)
-
from countries of the European Union
who intend to pursue graduate study or research must, where
eligible, apply for public fees awards offered by the
Research Councils by the relevant
deadlines.
-
who are already studying at
Cambridge are only eligible to apply for a Gates Cambridge
Scholarship if they are applying for a new course of
study (e.g. a one year ‘MPhil only’ student may
apply for funding to continue on to the PhD). Candidates
already studying at Cambridge who are not applying for a new
course of study (e.g. have already started their PhD) are
not eligible to be considered for a Gates
Cambridge Scholarship. Such candidates may, however, be
eligible for modest awards from the
other Cambridge Trusts.
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