University College Dublin scholarships for Indian students

The University announces €250,000 Scholarship Fund to attract top Indian students

A leading European research-intensive university, University College Dublin (UCD), has announced a range of scholarships to attract top Indian students to its university. Valued at €250,000 the scholarship fund will be used to attract top applicants to postgraduate and undergraduate programmes commencing in September 2013. Amongst the scholarships (available only to Indian applicants) announced were 2 full tuition scholarships at graduate level, five 50% tuition scholarships for taught masters programmes and over 50 scholarships of €2,000.

At undergraduate level, UCD have also shown a commitment to Indian students by offering scholarships valued between 50% of the full tuition fee and €2,500. Speaking on behalf of UCD, Ms. Una Condron, the International Recruitment Manager for India said: “We remain extremely committed to India and have a very attractive range of postgraduate programmes in engineering, finance, biotechnology and computer science (to name just a few) in response to the demand we have identified by industry employers.  These scholarships, which are specific to Indian applicants, seek to attract top Indian applicants by making their studies at UCD as affordable as possible."

UCD is ranked in the top 1% of World Universities per 2012 QS Rankings (ranking 130). Established in 1854, UCD is one of the oldest universities in Ireland and is Ireland's largest and most international university (with over 25,000 students of which over 5,500 are international from over 122 countries around the world). This combined with its status as Ireland's leader in postgraduate education (over a quarter of all graduate students in Ireland study in UCD) has proven it to be the most popular university for Indian students looking to study at university level in Ireland.

Located in Dublin city, Ireland's capital, UCD has Indians studying at undergraduate and graduate level. In addition to high quality programmes in the humanities, social sciences and the natural, physical and performance sciences, UCD offers courses in most professional disciplines including architecture, business, education, engineering, law, medicine, nursing, physiotherapy, and diagnostic imaging.  Indeed, UCD is the only university on the island of Ireland to offer programmes across the spectrum of agriculture, food science, food safety and veterinary medicine. UCD Quinn School of Business is highly internationally networked and a major feeder to UCD Smurfit School, one of the world's great graduate business schools (top 100 in the world).

Research and Innovation

Indian students are also attracted west to Europe, and to Ireland, by the commitment of universities towards research and development. Europe’s universities have a strong reputation for research, development and technology transfer. UCD as the national leader in fourth level education again attracts students because of its commitment to research (with the highest number of graduate research students of any university in Ireland with over 1,684 PhD students). UCD has secured over €480m in externally funded research contracts in the last five years alone.

For further information on the scholarships in UCD, see www.ucd.ie/international

Irish universities in India: focus on internationalisation

Irish Universities Association, the representative body for Ireland’s universities, hosted an education fair for students at The Lalit in New Delhi on Saturday 11 February 2012. The fair, which featured a consortium of seven leading institutes --  University of Limerick; National University of Ireland, Galway; National University of Ireland, Maynooth; Dublin City University; University College Cork; University of Dublin Trinity College; and University College Dublin --  toured Chennai, Hyderabad and Bangalore before ending their promotional tour at Delhi.

I visited the fair and spoke to Sinead Lucey, International Marketing Manager, Irish Universities Association (IUA) on higher education in Ireland and the IUA’s blueprint for India:

Debeshi: Tell us about what Ireland has on offer in terms of higher education?

Sinead: Our focus is on high quality education, a commitment to excellence. The quest for excellence is the bedrock of the seven Irish universities. Irish universities are internationally recognized for quality in education, research and the overall student experience, a recognition they relentlessly strive to enhance. International students are fundamental to this objective.

Sinead Lucey

Debeshi: Can you elaborate on the programmes that these universities offer?

Sinead: Alongside the traditional postgraduate courses, there is a diverse range of postgraduate courses ranging from Meteorology, Creative Writing to Biomedical Engineering. Pharmaceuticals, Information Technology, Medical Devices, Biotechnology are some of the other popular disciplines. The Pharmaceutical and Information Technology industry in Ireland is doing well and there are job opportunities for students.

Debeshi: Tell us about scholarships available for higher studies in Ireland?

Sinead: Almost all the universities offer some form of financial aid to international students. In addition, the government is offering a fully-funded scholarship which includes full tuition fee waiver and a stipend of 10,000 euros.

Debeshi: Are students allowed to work in Ireland after their course is completed?

Sinead: Students are allowed to stay back for a year and gain work experience after their course is completed. Leading global companies are located in Ireland. Companies who require a skilled, educated and highly capable workforce to drive their success choose to locate in Ireland. Recently, Ireland has welcomed Google, Facebook, Pfizer, Apple, Intel to name just a few  - all of whom chose Ireland as their European base. Global work experience helps graduates find their feet easily enough when they return to India.

Students at the University of Dublin Trinity College

Debeshi: Given recent incidents, Indian students will want to make sure they are safe in a foreign environment. Tell us how Ireland scores on this front?

National University of Ireland, Maynooth

Sinead: Ireland is a friendly, safe country. And it is not just us saying it! Ireland was voted by Lonely Planet as the world’s friendliest country in 2008 and 2010 and was ranked 12th in the 2009 Global Peace Index. International students enrich campus communities countrywide and our hospitable nature coupled with an unrivalled sense of fun ensures living in Ireland is an unforgettable experience. The island’s varied environment is ideal for many outdoor pursuits such as climbing, water sports and all kinds of ball and team sports. It’s easy to explore Europe from an Irish base with low-cost, frequent flights making trips affordable

Debeshi: What are your plans for India?

Sinead: We are very happy with the response in the different cities. We have seen excellent students here. We will return in May 2012 and November 2012 with more fairs. We hope to be very active in the Indian market going forward.