USC and Chilean ministry of education partner on PhD fellowships
USC and the Chilean Ministry of Education announced the creation of a partnership that will provide Ph.D. students from Chile with full tuition and living stipends as they pursue advanced degrees at USC, which enrolls more international students than any other university in the United States.
During a recent visit to Santiago by a USC delegation, the university partnered with the Chilean Ministry of Education and the National Commission for Scientific and Technological Research (CONICYT) to support the studies of Chilean students at USC.
“The Chile-USC fellowships represent a joint effort to cultivate outstanding Chilean students and scholars to pursue a Ph.D. at USC,” said Denise Saint-Jean, program director at CONICYT. “We are excited to partner with the University of Southern California, one of the world’s top universities, to support students from Chile as they continue to pursue their ideas and research.”
USC and CONICYT, under the Chilean Ministry of Education, will contribute to the scholarships, which will be available beginning in fall 2013 for Chilean doctoral students accepted to USC in a wide range of disciplines.
“The University of Southern California benefits from the rich diversity of its students, scholars and faculty who come from around the world to become members of the Trojan Family,” said Anthony Bailey, associate provost at USC. “This fellowship program will help support outstanding doctorate students from Chile as we work together to meet the world’s most pressing challenges.”
USC is the third university in the United States to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with CONICYT for joint fellowships that support the studies of top Chilean Ph.D. students abroad – the others being Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
The USC-Chile fellowship agreement also is the result of an ongoing relationship between Chile and the state of California. In 2008, Chile and California signed a MOU launching a strategic association for the 21st century. Educational collaborations are one of the main areas of focus under the agreement, which includes faculty and student exchanges, as well as research initiatives.
“We are thrilled to partner with USC and look forward to the enrichment and development of our Chilean Ph.D. students in countless areas of study, from technology-driven fields to the humanities and the arts,” said Cristobal Barros, executive director of the Chile-California Council.
USC recently signed a similar Ph.D. fellowship agreement with the Ministry of Education of Taiwan in 2011. The university will welcome the first group of Taiwan fellows in the program this fall.