THOURON AWARD: Postgraduate Study at the the University of Pennsylvania, USA - 2009/2010

A life-changing opportunity...

The Thouron Award, established in 1960, is a graduate exchange program between British universities and the University of Pennsylvania. Conceived to reinforce the "special relationship" between the U.S. and the U.K., it sought to create an ever-growing number of leading citizens of these two countries who would have a thorough understanding of their trans-Atlantic counterparts. Today it is a leading international scholarship program and experience in friendship, with more than 700 alumni.

The Thouron Award is about opportunity. Students receive full support – tuition and generous stipends – to pursue the graduate degrees of their choice. They are also encouraged to travel and immerse themselves in the life of their host countries. With opportunity comes a new perspective and, perhaps, even more opportunity. So many former Thouron Scholars say, "It changed my life!"

Graduates of British universities receive support for up to two years for a graduate (post-graduate) degree program at the University of Pennsylvania. Penn, an Ivy League institution, is one of the world’s leading research universities. With 12 schools on one contiguous campus in Philadelphia, it offers a wide range of postgraduate courses – in the Schools of Arts & Sciences, Communication, Dental Medicine, Design, Education, Engineering and Applied Science, Architecture & Regional Planning, Law, Medicine, Nursing, Social Policy, and Veterinary Medicine, as well as the Wharton School of Business. Typically, 6 to10 Awards are made each year to British graduates.

The Award, among the most generous exchange fellowships in the world, pays tuition fees and a monthly stipend that covers living costs, and such extras as entertainment and travel. The value of the award is adjusted annually, with the current annual stipend for UK Thourons set at $25,600 and for US Thourons at either £10,600 (outside London) or £12,800 (London).

Note: Students accepted for a Ph.D. at Penn are customarily funded by their department for up to five years. In such cases, the department may ask that the Thouron Award cover the first year or two, with the department picking up the remainder.

The Thouron Award is sufficiently generous to allow for vacation travel. Students are expected to use much of their vacation times to explore their host country.

Thouron Scholars are chosen both for their strong academic potential and their “ambassadorial qualities.”  It is expected that their academic records will enable them to be accepted into their degree programs and will ensure their success.  At the same time, Thouron Scholars should be able to act as representatives of their home country while being open to the different perspective of the country in which they do their academic program.

Candidates must:

• Be British citizens normally resident in the UK
• Have followed a UK secondary school education in the UK
• Be a graduate of a UK university or due to graduate by the Summer 2009  
• Wish to pursue a full-time postgraduate programme which is wholly located at the University of Pennsylvania and leads towards a degree or equivalent. Postdoctoral candidates are ineligible unless their proposed study is in a field different from that in which they undertook their previous university degree.

No application will be considered from a candidate already in the United States, or from a candidate who has previously spent an academic year at University of Pennsylvania.

Applications must be received by the deadline of 3 November 2008.

For more details, please see www.thouronaward.org.