Inlaks Shivdasani Foundation Scholarships

What is Inlaks Shivdasani scholarship?

The Inlaks Scholarships gives opportunity to young boys and girls with exceptional talent in most fields to widen their vision abroad and improve their skills to operate in society, thus making them a future vehicle of change in their environment.

The Scholarships are granted to bright young Indian students to read at top rated American, European and UK institutions for a full-time Masters, M.Phil or a Doctorate programme.

The Foundation has joint scholarship schemes with Imperial College London, Royal College of Art (RCA) London, University of Cambridge via the Cambridge Trust, Sciences Po, Paris.

The Foundation does not give scholarships in the following subjects (see exceptions below):

Business and Finance
Computer Science
Engineering
Fashion Design
Film and Film Animation
Hospitality and Tourism
Management Studies (inc MBA)
Medicine, Dentistry and related therapies
Music
Public Health

Terms of the Scholarship

• The scholarship will cover tuition, adequate living expenses, health allowance and one-way airfare.
• The maximum funding given by the Foundation is USD 100,000. If the total funding required (tuition, living allowance, health allowance plus one-way airfare) exceeds USD 100,000, candidates must show evidence that they have the ability to cover the additional requirement needed at the time of making the online application.
• The evidence of additional funding must be shown at the time of the preliminary interviews.
• Acceptance of other awards, teaching assistantships and part-time jobs are welcome after approval from the Foundation.
• The scholarship will not be awarded to candidates whose proposed course of study requires field trips back to India during their study tenure.
• Scholarships are awarded in May/June for commencement in subsequent August, September or October.
• If the scholarship does not commence within 9 months of it being awarded, it will be forfeited.

Eligibility criteria

• The Inlaks Shivdasani Scholarships are open to all Indian citizens who have been continuously resident in India for the past six months, at the time of making the scholarship application.
• For Social Sciences, Humanities, Law, Fine Arts, Architecture and related subjects, candidates are expected to have a minimum academic grade of 65% or CGPA 6.8 or GPA 2.6 from a recognized university/institution in India.
• For Mathematics, Sciences, Environment and related subjects candidates are expected to have a minimum academic grade of 70% or CGPA 7.2 or GPA 2.8 from a recognized university/institution in India.
• Candidates applying for scholarships in art and design (fine/performing arts) will be judged primarily on the basis of their portfolio.
• Candidates who are Indian citizens and hold a good undergraduate degree from a recognized institution abroad, must have resided continuously or been employed or have been studying in India, for at least two years, post their return to India to be eligible to apply for the scholarship.
• Candidates having a postgraduate qualification (e.g. Master’s or PhD) from an institution abroad are not eligible to apply.
• Candidates who have already begun their postgraduate education at an institution abroad are also not eligible to apply.
• It is essential to have prior admission to the institution and course chosen at the time of the application. The Foundation will not consider candidates without admission or pending admission.
• Candidates who have an English language requirement as a conditional part of their offer letter, need to fulfill the same before making an online application for the scholarship.
• Candidates holding a deferred offer of admission must have a valid offer for the academic year 2022-23 to be eligible for the 2022 scholarships.
• Any application received for the 2022 scholarships, which does not have valid documents, will not be considered. 
• Candidates can be a maximum of 30 years of age in the year of application. Those born on or after 1^st January 1992 are eligible to apply for the 2022 scholarships.
• The scholarship applicants must be high achievers academically and otherwise and the Foundation will need proof of the same.
• The applicants are judged on not only their present achievements but also on their future potential. The Foundation prides itself on judging potential as much as performance.

Application Process

• Application for the scholarship has to be made online on the portal which is accessible from the website. No physical application forms will be accepted.
• Only one submission per candidate will be accepted.
• A valid passport is the only identification document that will be accepted when making the online application.
• Candidates applying in the field of architecture, fine and applied arts, and related subjects must upload their portfolio as a PDF file.
• Candidates applying for film, dance, acting, and music (Western classical singing) must also upload their portfolio through a link.
• A clear declaration must be made of all funding received for the course. In case the offer of funding comes in after the application has been submitted, it will be necessary to inform the Foundation in writing via email.
• If you have applied for a course at the same institution or another institution and have procured funding for it, you will have to declare this, even if it is not your intention to avail of that offer when making an application for the Inlaks scholarship.
  
• The living allowances are auto-calculated as per the Foundation guidelines.
• All applicants have to enter their total tuition for the duration of their course  in the application. If the total funding required exceeds the Foundation limit, USD100,000/-, the applicant has to show proof of extra funding. Applications showing  incorrect/ incomplete  tuition will be auto-deleted.
• Two letters of reference are mandatory, one of those must be from an academic referee.
• Candidates must input official email addresses for both their referees while filling in the online application form. Personal email addresses especially for the academic referee will not be accepted.
• For the online submission of the reference letters, the referee whose name has been indicated on the application form will receive a link to upload the reference letter. Please note this link will remain valid for 7 days only and its validity cannot be extended.
• Preferably, the reference letters should be on a letterhead. Email references will not be accepted.

Please bear in mind the following points before filling out the application form:

Selection Procedure

• An independent Inlaks Selection Committee carries out the selection for the scholarship awardees. Applications received are analyzed and evaluated and the committee subsequently calls the most interesting and promising candidates for interviews.
• The selection process is in two stages: A preliminary interview stage and if successful at the preliminary stage a Final interview round.
• Candidates who do not receive any communication from the Foundation by mid-May must assume that their applications have not been successful.
• The Foundation has been awarding scholarships to bright young Indians since 1976. The key to the Inlaks Scholarships is flexibility. The Foundation looks out for the unusual, special talent and identifies candidates a flair. Once the Foundation is convinced of the candidates’ potential it does everything possible to accommodate a worthy candidate.