QMU offers new scholarship to help support Syrian refugees
Queen Margaret University (QMU), Edinburgh is responding to the ongoing refugee crisis by offering a new scholarship to help support Syrians fleeing their civil war.
The QMU Syrian Refugee Scholarship will cover all academic fees to help support a Syrian student studying a full-time or part-time Masters programme within the Institute for Global Health and Development (IGHD), including MSc Global Health, MSc Social Development & Health or MSc Sexual & Reproductive Health.
Available from September 2016, the Scholarship also includes a £1,000 contribution towards living costs and a waiver of fees for QMU’s four-week English Language pre-sessional programme.
The move comes after the UK Government announced it would allow 20,000 Syrian refugees to settle in the country over the next five years. Edinburgh Council has also committed to grant Syrian refugees asylum in Edinburgh.
Tens of thousands of Syrian men, women and children have been desperately making their way to Europe this summer to escape war and persecution in their homeland.
As a leading centre for the study of global health in settings of adversity, including refugee health, QMU is offering a Syrian refugee the opportunity to rebuild a successful future with scholarship support to study in the area of health and development.
QMU is a global learning community with over a third of its students coming from 70 countries world-wide. The University strives to create a community without borders, helping to improve people's lives locally, nationally and internationally. In everything it does, QMU is committed to social justice.
Commenting on the QMU Syrian Scholarship, Professor Alastair Ager, Director for IGHD at Queen Margaret University, said: “We’re currently experiencing Europe’s greatest humanitarian crisis of modern times. Many of the Syrian refugees are people whose higher education has been cut short. Although their immediate need is to seek safety, they’re also wishing to rebuild their lives, and eventually their own country, through education.
“As part of our long-standing commitment to addressing health care challenges and education in areas of conflict, poverty and vulnerability across the globe, we’re pleased to be offering this new scholarship to Syrian refugees. We hope it goes some way to helping them identify how to rebuild their nation’s future.”
Professor Alastair Ager is a specialist in global health and humanitarian response. He has worked in the field of global health and development for over twenty-five years and has previously held positions in Scotland, England, Malawi and the USA.
The successful student applicant for the QMU Syrian Refugee Scholarship must be a Syrian national who has been afforded Humanitarian Protection status in the UK and who hold an offer of admission for one of QMU’s eligible IGHD programmes. Applicants must have completed an undergraduate degree (or equivalent) to be eligible to apply.
To find out more about the new QMU Syrian Refugee Scholarship and to apply contact the Admissions team at QMU on 0131 474 0000 or E: admissions@qmu.ac.uk, indicating intention to be considered for the QMU Syrian Refugee Scholarship.
Considerations close 31st July 2016 and the successful recipient of the Scholarship will be notified by 5th August 2016.
Visit the Institute for Global Health & Development (IGHD) section of our website for more details on the eligible IGHD programmes on offer.
Notes to Editor
For further media information contact Jonathan Perkins, Press and PR Officer, E: jperkins@qmu.ac.uk T: 0131 474 0000.
