Abu Dhabi, UAE, May 17, 2011 – The AED16 million Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Higher Education Grant was launched today to help young Zayed University graduates advance their studies and further the UAE’s efforts in becoming a knowledge-based economy.

The Grant will be administered by the Emirates Foundation for Philanthropy on behalf of Zayed University. The funds will be released over five years in the form of masters’ and doctoral scholarships to support graduates wishing to continue their studies at universities in the UAE and abroad.

The Senior Executive Advisor for the Education & Social Development Programme, Dr. Sabha Al Shamisi, said that priority would be given to students studying in fields identified in the Abu Dhabi 2030 Vision as being important to the future development of the UAE.

These include: education and social studies, tourism, museum and curatorial studies, healthcare and public administration, environment and engineering, aeronautics and astronautics, and nuclear engineering and management.

She noted: “Winning applicants will have shown a commitment to pursuing a career in their specialised field.”

The grants will cover tuition fees for students studying at selected UAE universities. For overseas grants, tuition fees (plus travel and living allowances)will be awarded to students accepted at any foreign university included in the top 200 Academic Ranking of World Universities  – and accredited by the UAE’s Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research.

Applicants must fulfill a pre-determined set of criteria and complete an assessment process to demonstrate their eligibility for the programme.

Dr Jeff Belnap, Campus Director from Zayed University explained that applications should reflect the students’ maturity and growth through participation in extracurricular community or university activities.

“Applicants must also have an excellent statement of purpose, a GPA of 3.0 or above and an IELTS of 6.0 or equivalent,” Dr Jeff Belnap said.

Application and information pages can be found on the Emirates Foundation and Zayed University websites. Applications for the year 2011-2012 close on June 30, 2011 and successful candidates will be notified the following month.

Winning applicants, aged between 21 and 31years, are required to have a degree from Zayed University, and to have been accepted, or be in the process of applying, to a qualifying university.

The Emirates Foundation scholarships department has successfully administered AED 10.8 million of grants since its inception in 2007.