Scholars in diverse fields find places at U.K. schools

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Scholars in diverse fields find places at U.K. schools

Many of Korea’s best and brightest in nanotechnology, international media, corporate responsibility, biology and other fields gathered at a reception Thursday, in the shadow of the ambassador’s residence at the British Embassy. Some of them were on their way to the U.K. to continue their studies at such renowned institutions as the London School of Economics, Cambridge and Manchester Universities. Others had just returned.
Making these experiences possible is the British Foreign Ministry’s Chevening Scholarship program, which annually provides funding for Korean students and professionals to study at British schools.
The program extends invitations annually to students from every country with which the British government maintains relations. The 40 Koreans who earned an award were carefully selected from hundreds of applicants, which is still only a small fraction of the about 1,200 Chevening scholars the program brings to the U.K. from all over the world every year.
Park Soo-young at the Korea International Cooperation Agency and Heo Hae-rim, a graduate student at Ewha Womans University, both earned spots at the LSE next year. Ms. Park will study development, while Ms. Heo will study international political economy, with an eye to becoming a trade negotiator. Others looked forward to futures in genetic engineering and international media.
About half the students are sponsored by the British Foreign Ministry, with the other half supported by local corporations. Among the sponsors Thursday was John Filmeridis, president and CEO of SC First Bank.
“This is a great way to support Koreans to go out and get a Western education, and when they come back we hope they’ll find opportunities here,” he said.


by Ben Applegate
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