Scholarships and Funding Awarded to Students Studying Urban Sustainability

Scholarships and funding have been awarded to three outstanding candidates to undertake the Department's Master's in Sustainable Urban Development this October: Ms Irina Mott, Ms Joanne Hall and Ms Divindy Grant.

Irina, (pictured, lower), a freelance architect based in Paris, has been awarded the programme-based full fee scholarship for the course. Joanne, (pictured, upper), a planning technician for a UK Local Planning Authority, receives both an Oxford Graduate Scholarship, funded by HEFCE, and programme-based Award of £10,000. Divindy, a chartered civil engineer specialising in urban water and sanitation infrastructure at Mott Macdonald, has received the prestigious Clarendon Scholarship, the third student on the MSc to do so.

The MSc in Sustainable Urban Development brings together urban leaders, decision-makers and practitioners from across the world and the UK. Delivered part-time across eight intensive teaching weeks over two years, the MSc enables students to continue working while developing their careers.

'The Scholarship has enabled me to seize the chance of a lifetime,' Irina said, 'It will give me the wings to reach my goal towards a sustainable future. The course will help me find effective ways to fill the gaps between the design and planning process. I aim to be part of the global city discourse in multidisciplinary research and reflexive practice, to be able to embrace future challenges and to materialize opportunities towards a sustainable future.'

Joanne said, 'I am very fortunate to have been awarded both the Award and a HEFCE Graduate Scholarship which covers the course and college fees as well as helping towards living and studying costs. Being at the very beginning of my professional career and coming from a humble background, I would not have been able to accept my place on the course without this generous funding.'

'The MSc will help me to progress within my chosen profession,' Joanne explains, 'Its inter-disciplinary nature will not only enable me to build upon my knowledge of town planning and expand on my previous studies but will also allow me to explore new areas such as sustainable transport planning. The delivery of the course is also important as it enables me to continue with my professional endeavours.'

Divindy tells us, 'I have come to strongly appreciate that to develop the best long term sustainable water supply for urban areas, solutions needed to diverge away from the Victorian tradition of designing urban infrastructure as separate technical systems and look at the integrated urban environment as a whole. I am hoping that this course will improve my understanding of the urban complexity to help design a more sustainable urban environment.'

'The funding has made all the difference - without it I would not have been able to partake in the course. As work full-time, the stipend associated with the Clarendon Fund has meant that I can afford to take time off as unpaid study leave.'

'I want to gain an improved understanding about the diverse urban environment and the inter-play between the diversity of factors. The course should also allow me to take the step back to see my professional life in a wider perspective and from different angles, which will be extremely valuable. This will be through the personal analysis and reflection on sustainable development associated with rigorous further study, along with debate with learned professors and peers.'

In a recent series of video interviews commissioned by the University, students, lecturers and alumni reflect upon their experiences of the MSc, motivations for joining and the impact of the MSc on career prospects. Please see: http://youtu.be/PmK5jGO63s0

For more information about the MSc in Sustainable Urban Development and future funding opportunities please visit www.conted.ox.ac.uk/msud or contact us on sud@conted.ox.ac.uk and +44 (0)1865 286951.

Published 21 July 2014