New initiatives have been launched by the University of Aberdeen as part of its drive to benefit from a campus with a truly international flavour and outlook.
The University has a strong track record in attracting the best and the brightest staff and students from around the world, with 120 nationalities represented in the 16,000-strong student body.
The new initiatives are designed to further grow and support the international community on campus, and the global experience this brings for all Aberdeen students.
New opportunities at an annual cost of £4 million will support international students in accessing the University’s refreshed portfolio of undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. These continue to be developed to reflect the career aspirations of students, while recognising the needs of employers and the quality of graduates they expect from an institution of the University of Aberdeen’s standing.
New funding opportunities specifically for international students at Aberdeen include:
- International Undergraduate Scholarships, worth one year’s tuition fee and open to all international undergraduate students studying for four years or more at the University of Aberdeen (excluding Medicine). The scholarship allows international students access to all the benefits of the traditional four-year Scottish degree, while recognising the financial commitment they are making.
- Graduate Business School Scholarships, designed to support talented international students interested in the range of excellent postgraduate degrees on offer, including the MSc Marketing, MSc Management Consultancy and the MSc Petroleum, Energy Economics & Finance.
- Fixed fee structure, which recognises the need for financial planning, particularly given the volatile nature of the current world economy. The University’s new fee structure for international undergraduate and postgraduate research students means that from September 2014, the tuition fee a student pays will be fixed for the duration of their studies. International students will know exactly what they will pay for their degree at the beginning of their studies.
International students can also apply for a new programme of research scholarships open to all prospective PhD students which has been launched to commemorate the University’s visionary founder Bishop William Elphinstone (1431-1514), Bishop of Aberdeen and Chancellor of Scotland. His abiding mission was the pursuit of excellence, and applicants must hold a first or upper second class honours degree from a UK university, or the overseas equivalent, or a Master’s degree with commendation or distinction.
Announcing the new initiatives, Professor Sir Ian Diamond, Principal and Vice-Chancellor said: “Our commitment is for the Aberdeen experience to be the best that students can have anywhere. An important part of this is the benefit for all of a diverse student community including many nationalities. We hope these new initiatives will bring many more students to north-east Scotland from across the world and further enrich the quality of the learning experience on our campus.”
The University’s growing portfolio of international initiatives is being led by newly-appointed Vice Principal for Internationalisation, Professor Seth Kunin. An anthropologist who hails originally from the US and was most recently Pro Vice-Chancellor at Durham University, Professor Kunin will lead and promote overseas student recruitment and identify opportunities for collaborations with overseas universities, organisations and governments.
Professor Kunin said: “Helping our students to become globally aware, active and engaged citizens is an important aim of our recently reformed curriculum. This is an absolute requirement in our world today, and gives our students an experience which offers considerable advantage in their future careers. In this way we all gain the benefits of being ‘international’, and this also extends to our city and region.
“For example, we are a World Energy City and students from countries with fast-developing energy industries are coming here to gain not only an excellent education in disciplines such as engineering, geosciences, energy law, economy and business – but also the experience of being immersed in a mature and innovating North Sea industry, the advantages of which they take with them to leading positions in their home countries or wherever in the world they choose to progress their careers.”
Full details of the new scholarships and other initiatives are available on the University of Aberdeen website www.abdn.ac.uk/study/international/