mid-day speaks to three of the 14 girls from Maharashtra who have been awarded the prestigious British Council scholarships who will head to prestigious UK universities for their MSc
Tejasvini Sajid won an Rs 18 lakh scholarship for an MSc in cyber security at the University of York. Pic/Satej Shinde
Last week, 14 women from Maharashtra were awarded the British Council's prestigious scholarships worth a whopping Rs 2.5 crore to study in the United Kingdom for a one-year master's course in science, technology, engineering and mathematics for the academic year 2018-19. The 14 are part of 100 Indian women who have been awarded the British Council's 70th anniversary scholarships, the first one from them solely for women. They will depart for their respective courses at prestigious UK universities later this year.
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Vejaykummar from IIT-Bombay will head to the University of Oxford for an MSc in theoretical and computational chemistry. Pic/Sameer Markande
The 100 scholars will not only attend 44 universities in countries like England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland but will also get the chance to work in world-class research environments and collaborate with international research teams. Of the 14 Maharashtra awardees, 10 are from Mumbai, Thane and Dombivli.
A blessing
One of the awardees is Goregaon resident Tejasvini Sajid, 20. The final-year BSc forensic science student at Mumbai University won an Rs 18 lakh scholarship for an MSc in cyber security at the University of York. She told mid-day, "All I have to pay for now is my accommodation. I would have done the course without the scholarship as well, but the student loan procedure would have been a bit of a hassle. This was a blessing." She will be departing for her course towards the end of August.
Oxford bound!
Another winner is Shree Sowndarya Santhanalakkshmi Vejaykummar, 21, from IIT-Bombay, who is in the last year of her bachelor's course in theoretical and computational chemistry. She will be heading to the University of Oxford for a MSc in the same subjects. She received a GBP 23,000 (about Rs 21.15 lakh) scholarship for the course. "I got to know the scholarship had been granted to me on March 2. I was on a vacation at the time, that I enjoyed even more because of the good news," she said.
Once she completes her masters at Oxford, she will be a research scientist working on theoretical models that will help research groups design more effective, accessible and cheaper drugs and treatment methods. "I am specifically interested in using algorithms to figure out problems. Chemicals eventually become drugs and I want to learn how to design them using a computer-based study," she added.
From the biomedical lens
Thane resident Priyanka Morbale, 22, who is an instrumentation engineering graduate has won a GBP 21,000 (around R19.31 lakh) scholarship for a MSc in biomedical engineering at the University of Southampton. She told mid-day, "I had always dreamt of becoming a doctor but due to the government's changes, I opted for engineering and thus, never really got into the field of medicine. So I thought why not enter it from the technical side? That's why I chose biomedical engineering. Once I complete my course, I want to know more about how to make new kinds of technology affordable in India, where they are usually very expensive."
44
Number of scholars from South India
21
Number of scholars from North India
20
Number of scholars from West India
9
Number of scholars from East India
6
Number of scholars from Northeast India
Also Read: US Sikh group raises USD 210,000 for student scholarships in Punjab
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