British Fellowships and UK Graduate Study in Sciences: Talk with Ed Johnson, PhD

Join Fellowships Dean Lisa Gates for a conversation with Ed Johnson, a Middlebury parent, scientist and Rhodes scholar on Thursday, March 3 at 7pm in MBH 104.

This may be especially relevant for science students, but all interested in graduate study in the UK or British scholarships (Rhodes, Marshall, Gates-Cambridge etc. which generally need a GPA of 3.7 and up) are welcome!

A Scientist Looks at the Big Name Fellowships and Graduate Study in the UK

Dr. Ed Johnson, a scientist, entrepreneur, and philanthropist based in Boston will talk about science careers, big name fellowships, and how it works to go abroad for a few years after college. Many of the post-graduate fellowships, especially the famous ones, seem to be aimed at students in the humanities and social sciences. Can a natural science student win one of these? If they do, how will it impact their research career?

More about Dr. Johnson: A physicist by training, Dr. Johnson is a Rhodes Scholar, who earned his doctorate at Oxford and went on to success in government, corporate, and academic settings. Dr. Johnson started a technology company and led it through an initial public offering. He now consults with university-based groups and start-up companies on strategies for product development and company spin-out. His main current project is at the MIT Plasma Science and Fusion Center, helping to imagine the physics, engineering, and economic challenges of a fusion energy future.

With roughly two hundred published papers and eighteen US patents, Dr. Johnson has served on a number of state and national boards, including the Massachusetts business development council, the US Department of Energy council on sensors for next generation vehicles, and the Washington and Lee University science board. He remains active in the Rhodes Scholar alumni organization and every year, he coaches applicants for Rhodes, Marshall, and Fulbright fellowships.

see go/british for more information about British Scholarships

Interested in Graduate Study in the UK?

Overview of British/UK and Mitchell Scholarships
Tuesday, March 1, 7 pm in Library 201

Lunch with Prof. Ellie Gebarowski-Shafer Discussing Graduate Study at Oxford
Tuesday, March 8, 12:30 pm in Library 145
sign up now at go/appt

Lunch with Mitchell Scholarship Director Serena Wilson
Monday, March 14, 12:15pm in the CTLR
sign up now at go/appt

These scholarships vary in terms of eligibility, but they all seek intellectually accomplished students with a clear vision of what they want to achieve (minimum GPA of 3.7). Significant leadership, research, and/or accomplishment in the areas you engage in are also vital. All scholarships support 1-2 years of graduate study at various universities in the UK and Ireland in various disciplines. Some of these are also open to young alumni.

You must apply for nomination for the Churchill, Marshall, Mitchell and Rhodes by April 15 to be considered for nomination. (If you’re abroad, we will use Skype.) You do not need nomination to apply to the Gates-Cambridge. The St. Andrews nomination deadline will be in the fall. Note: Gates-Cambridge and Rhodes are open to multiple citizenship types; the others are restricted to US citizens.

More information and nomination applications are online at go/british. Questions? Contact Dean Lisa Gates at fellowships@middlebury.edu.

Applications for Fall 2015 British Scholarships

For those students and alumni continuing with the British scholarship nomination process (and this means you were interviewed by the British scholarship committee in April/May 2015):

I wanted to review instructions for our Aug 15 deadline for submitting your British scholarship application(s) for review for nomination. Please read through carefully.

1. If you have changed your mind and do not want to apply for any British scholarships in the fall 2015 cycle, please let me know that. In most cases, you can consider applying in future application cycles.

2. If you are applying for any British scholarship, please submit a polished working draft of the application with a copy of your advising transcript from Banner as a single PDF file. It is very important that this is a single file and that you make a single pdf file for each application. The only exception to this is if you are applying for a Marshall, Rhodes, Mitchell or Churchill AND the Keasbey; in that case, note that you are seeking nomination for the Keasbey still and we can use the Marshall, Rhodes, Mitchell or Churchill application for that nomination determination. If you are applying for the Keasbey nomination ONLY, you will need to submit a draft of the Keasbey application (at go.middlebury.edu/keasbey) and advising transcript as a single pdf file. Please label the file with your last name and the name of the scholarship, e.g. Gates_Marshall, Gates_Rhodes etc.

3. What you are not submitting now: letters of recommendation or official transcripts.

4. To make a copy of an online application, you may have an option to save as a pdf and use that. If not you can print to a pdf file.

5. For those of you who have been told you are being nominated for a particular scholarship, this application copy will allow us to provide feedback on your application (except for Rhodes and Mitchell, per their restrictions; however I will be happy to talk with you broadly about the application). For those who have provisional nomination or have been told we could not make a decision about nomination in May, this material will serve as the basis for our final nomination decisions.

​6. My goal is to have final decisions and feedback out to everyone by 9/2.

7. Remember, Gates Cambridge does not require any institutional nomination. So you may feel free to apply directly to that scholarship and talk w/ me about questions and essays.

Any questions, let me know. Lisa Gates will be out of the office 8/6 through 8/18, returning on 8/19. Colleen Norden will be in the office until 8/14, so can help with questions about process.

 

RHODES SCHOLARSHIPS NOW OPEN TO INDIAN AND CHINESE STUDENTS STUDYING IN THE US

New changes for Indian and Chinese citizens studying in the US from the Rhodes foundation:

From this application cycle, Indian and Chinese citizens studying in the US may apply for the Indian and Chinese Rhodes Scholarships, respectively.

Rhodes Scholarship for India

Citizens of India, who hold an Indian passport, or equivalent proof of citizenship, who are studying for their undergraduate degree at a US university may apply for one of the Rhodes Scholarships for India. Candidates must have completed, or be due to complete by 1 October 2016, their undergraduate degree (to a standard equivalent to a First class degree in India, ie GPA c3.75 or above).

Candidates must have undertaken formal study at an educational institution in India for a minimum of 4 of the last 10 years, and have completed a school leaving exam (10th or 12th standard) at a school in India. Please note that only one of the five available Scholarships for India (and in exceptional cases, two) may be awarded to candidates who are pursuing, or have pursued, their undergraduate studies abroad.

Candidates must have reached their nineteenth birthday, and not have passed their 25th birthday at 1 October 2016, i.e. must have been born after 30 September 1991 and on or before 1 October 1997.

Applications open: 15 June 2015

Closing date: 31 July 2015

For further details, including full eligibility criteria and how to apply: http://www.rhodeshouse.ox.ac.uk/india

 

Rhodes Scholarship for China

Citizens of the People’s Republic of China who are studying for their undergraduate degree in a US university may apply for a Rhodes Scholarship for China.

Candidates must have completed (or be due to complete by August 2016) their undergraduate degree in China or overseas. If studying overseas, candidates must provide evidence that they have received at least five full years, out of the last 10 years, in full-time education in China.

Candidates must have reached their 19th and not have passed their 25th birthday on 1 October 2016.   This means applicants must have been born after 30 September 1991 and on or before 1 October 1997.

Candidates must have a GPA in the top 5% of his/her class.

In addition, candidates for the China Rhodes Scholarship must provide

  1. TOEFL or IELTS certificate to the standard described on the Oxford website: http://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/graduate/applying-to-oxford/application-guide
  2. A GRE or GMAT certificate.

Applications open: 1 July 2015

Closing date: 25 September 2015

For further details, including full eligibility criteria and how to apply: http://www.rhodeshouse.ox.ac.uk/china