[Thailand] Scholarships for Environmental and Sustainable Development Studies

UNEP Supported Scholarships for Environmental and Sustainable Development Studies in AIT

The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) strategy in Asia Pacific aims to lead in responding to emerging environmental issues and to assist in implementing the programs at national, subregional and regional levels. Part of the cooperation between UNEP and AIT is to implement joint activities in the area of environment and sustainable development. Under this collaboration, UNEP would provide five Master’s scholarships to AIT, targeted for January 2006 semester. The scholarship program is under the UNEP Bali Strategic Plan for Technology Support and Capacity-building which aims to provide capacity building measures based on national and subregional priorities and needs.

AIT

AIT, founded in 1959, is an autonomous, international, post-graduate institution, to help meet the growing need for advanced education in Asia. Three schools, and the AIT Center in Vietnam, provide advanced education, training and research in the areas of engineering; environment and development; and management, to meet the needs of private and public sectors. For more than five decades, AIT has been an active partner in the promotion of technological change and development in the Asia-Pacific region. AIT today has graduated about 14,000 graduates from close to 60 countries, and currently has an enrollment of over 1,800 full time students tutored by an international team of faculty and staff drawn from all over the world. Details of AIT academic programs can be obtained from http://www.ait.ac.th.

Target

The scholarship program is principally aimed at the following target audiences:

Mid level technical personnel from the public and private sectors, who have keen interest in environment and sustainable development related issues;

Mid level professionals, who are associated with national and regional technical evaluation and policy formulation activities related to environment and sustainable development;

Teachers and other academic staff from educational/research institutions planning to introduce concepts of interdisciplinary approach of sustainable development.


Areas of Interest

UNEP will offer five Master’s scholarships which would be distributed across the five regions of Asia – North East, South Pacific, South East Asia, South Asia, and Central Asia. The thematic areas that will be considered for the January 2006 intake are:

(a) Waste management (e.g. electrical and electronic wastes)
(b) Urbanization ( e.g. eco housing, transport and new fuels)
(c) Environmental security (e.g. air, water, energy and food)

Students can be admitted to any of the academic field of studies at AIT. However, their research activities should be directly linked to the UNEP’s thematic areas. A one page detailed research proposal based on UNEP’s thematic areas should be submitted with the application (www.rrcap.unep.org ).


Application Requirements

The scholarships are specifically targeted to those from the five sub regions and coming from the government, public and private sector. The minimum requirements are:

The applicant should hold a bachelor degree (normally from a four-year program) or its equivalent in an appropriate field of study from an institution of recognized standing; and have undergraduate grades significantly above average.

Priority will be given to the candidate, who is associated with the national UNEP (or Environment/Sustainable development) related projects. His/her Masters research work could be conducted, preferably, at the home country.

The selected applicant will work on the research areas recommended by UNEP. After graduation, few selected would be expected to work with the RRC.AP office, as interns, prior to returning to their home country.

All AIT programs are conducted in the English language, the Institute's official medium of all communication. Applicants have to produce evidence of proficiency in English. UNEP Scholarship applicants must submit a standard English proficiency score. The minimal scores acceptable are : TOEFL [Internet-based 83, Computer-based 220, Paper-based 560] TOEIC [750] IELTS[6.0].

All candidates for entry to AIT must provide certificated evidence of good health.


Scholarship

The scholarship will cover the following:

Tuition and registration fees for 4 semesters

Research grant

Travel grant (economy class : incoming and outgoing costs)

Monthly bursary during the period of study


Application, Fees and Expenses

Application forms for attending the Masters degree program can be obtained by contacting the Director of Admissions and Scholarships, Asian Institute of Technology, PO Box 4, Klong Luang, Pathumthani 12120, Thailand or from the AIT website (http://www.ait.ac.th). Additional details regarding tuition fees and other expenses are available at the same website.

The last date for submission of application will be 10 November 2005. Selected applicants will be informed by 30 November 2005. The semester commences on 9 January 2006.

For other information/details regarding the UNEP scholarships, please contact:

Director of Admissions and Scholarships
Asian Institute of Technology
P.O. Box 4, Klong Luang, Pathumthani 12120,
Thailand.
E-mail: admissions@ait.ac.th
Telephone: (66-2) 524-5031-33
Fax: (66-2) 524-6326