New fellowships for Indian scholars at Cambridge

LONDON: The University of Cambridge has instituted three visiting fellowships for outstanding Indian graduates in memory of its alumnus and former Karnatak University vice-chancellor Dr D C Pavate.
The fellowships, open to Indian citizens under the age of 45, will be held at the Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge.

The Dr D C Pavate Fellowships are for a four-month period of study each at Judge Business School, the Centre for International Studies and either the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics (DAMTP) or the Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy.

The annual fellowships have been instituted under an agreement between the Dr D C Pavate Foundation, Karnatak University in Dharwad, India and Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge.

The fellowships, to be started from next year, can be availed by PhD holders or those having first class Masters Degree or its equivalent, the university said.

The visiting fellow appointed to the Centre of International Studies will be selected after an all-India competition, it said.

The Fellowship at the Centre of International Studies will be effective from January 2010. Candidates with a good academic record in the areas of History, Political Science, International Economics, International Law or Military Affairs will be considered.

New fellowships for Indian scholars at Cambridge

Regional disparity tags US scholarships

Pradipta Mukherjee / Kolkata April 16, 2008

Eastern India sends the least number of scholars, North leads.

Recent reports released by United States Education Foundation in India (USEFI) say the eastern region of the country has the lowest number of Fulbright and Humphrey scholars in the country.

Eastern India also has the lowest number of applicants for the world-renowned research grant Fulbright Scholarship. The Fulbright programmes are for working professionals in India, students, researchers and teachers. The professionals pursuing the courses are provided stipend as well as accommodation in the US.

In the last eight years, the total number of Fulbright and Humphrey fellowships from the eastern region was 71 — the lowest among all four regions. The highest number was 182 from the northern region, followed by 114 from the South and 92 from the West.

Each of the other three regions has consistently posted more than double the number of applications from the Eastern region over the last few years for the scholarship programmes. Last year, scholars from Bengal received eight Fulbright fellowships, while Delhi bagged 19.

According to Sunrit Mullick, regional officer and educational adviser, USEFI, the low numbers could be attributed to ‘a singular lack of ambition’ among people of eastern India. “People in Kolkata and the NorthEast seem to be satisfied with their careers,” Mullick said.

“Lack of information is another reason. In many instances, when Fulbright brochures were sent out to various colleges and universities in the East they landed up at the principal’s office.

But it has been found that often the principal’s office does not bother to give the information to the students or put up the brochure for public view. So, many students do not even know when the scholarship was announced or when the deadline passed,” he added.

Regional disparity tags US scholarships