In October 2000, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation of Seattle, Washington, USA announced a donation to the University of Cambridge of $210 million to establish the Gates Cambridge Trust.

This benefaction creates in perpetuity an international scholarship programme to enable outstanding graduate students from outside the United Kingdom to study at the University of Cambridge. The Trustees are required to award scholarships on the basis of a person’s intellectual ability, leadership capacity and desire to use their knowledge to contribute to society throughout the world by providing service to their communities and applying their talents and knowledge to improve the lives of others.

About the scholarships
The Trust expects there to be of the order of 230 Gates Cambridge Scholars studying at the University at any one time. Although there may be variation in the actual number of awards made each year, the Trust seeks to elect approximately 100 new scholars annually.

In selecting Gates Cambridge Scholars, the Trust looks for students of exceptional academic achievement and scholarly promise for whom advanced study at Cambridge would be particularly appropriate. The Trust expects a good match to be made between the applicant’s qualifications and aspirations and what Cambridge has to offer. Successful applicants will have the ability to make a significant contribution to their discipline while in Cambridge, with a strong aptitude for research, analysis and a creative approach to defining and solving problems.

Over time, Gates Cambridge Scholars will form an integral and dynamic part of the University’s influential international alumni network, bringing vision and new ideas to improving the lives of citizens throughout the world. Cambridge alumni take the lead in applying knowledge and skill to major problems in every walk of life: Gates Cambridge Scholars are thus expected to use their education for the benefit of others and to improve the common weal.

Gates Cambridge Scholarships are awarded only to students who gain admission to the University through the University’s regular procedures. They cover the full cost of study at Cambridge for a single person - namely, all approved University and College tuition fees, a maintenance allowance [which for 2005-06 will be £8,400], a further discretionary allowance for study-related activities [which for 2005-06 will be £2,000], and one return economy airfare between the UK and the Scholar’s normal country of residence.

Application Procedure

This entry was posted by Taman Siswa on Friday, December 2, 2005 at 6:42 am and is filed under Online Education, Scholarship. Tags: Cambridge, College, Education News, Gates Cambridge Trust, influential international alumni network, Melinda Gates Foundation of Seattle, Scholarship, Seattle, Student, Study, United Kingdom, United States, University of Cambridge, Washington, . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.