by
KERIN PITHAWALA
June 26, 2022
Preamble
There are plenty of opportunities to partially or fully fund education. With proper research, one can find scholarships and fellowships that will aid your education plans. One of the keys is to start early to put forward a good application. Ways in which you can find scholarships or fellowships opportunities are as follows:
1. Utilise your home country’s bilateral education ties.
Countries have ties with each other to facilitate educational exchanges. This can be useful if you want to study abroad. They might additionally provide you with resources to find Universities and how to fund your education in the country. For example, India has a program with France called Campus France which enables subsidized studies for Indian citizens in France.
- Determine if your current/previous education institution has connections with Universities.
Schools and Universities have a Memorandum of Understanding with other education institutions for student exchanges and bridging programs. They might provide application fee waivers, guaranteed funding amounts and fellowships to people of your institution. For more information, visit: https://zoroastrianfacultynetwork.org/2021/09/16/on-applying-for-post-graduate-degrees-in-the-uk-and-us/
- Browse through your Universities’ Funding webpages on their websites
Universities have departmental and institution-wide scholarships and fellowship opportunities listed on their website. They mention the eligibility, amount, and application process. For example, the University of Toronto has an Award Explorer on its site(https://awardexplorer.utoronto.ca/).
- Attend educational fairs and expos
Universities send their representatives to these events. You can ask them your queries and some provide additional scholarship opportunities for attendees. For example QS World Grad School Tour(https://www.topgradschool.cn/)
- Check with your shortlisted Universities if they offer Teaching Assistantships and/or Research Assistantships to incoming international students.
You can work in your desired field part-time on campus and earn to offset your costs. Many institutes provide partial or full tuition fee waivers to Teaching Assistants and Research Assistants. Getting funds for MS is far more difficult than getting funding for a PhD. Typically, PhD students receive guaranteed funding for a specific time. - Connect or follow people on Social Media who post about fellowships
There are students and professors who post about opportunities in their Universities or fields. For Example Zoroastrian Faculty Network. ZFN members provide information on faculty openings, post-doctoral positions, the need for research assistants, etc.
Link: https://zoroastrianfacultynetwork.org/
Closing Remarks
The key to search fellowship/scholarships on the internet is to use the combination of the right keywords. Type your program name and nationality in your search engine.