The Cambridge Trust and the University of Central Asia (UCA) have agreed to offer nine doctoral scholarships at the University of Cambridge in the UK to scholars from Central Asia, according to press release issued by UCA.

This reportedly follows the successful completion by a previous cohort of UCA doctoral scholars at the University of Cambridge.  These additional scholarships, to be known as the University of Central Asia Cambridge Scholarships, will further build on the relationship of UCA and the University of Cambridge to enhance the academic quality of UCA’s future faculty.

According to the agreement signed on 9 November 2017, scholarships will be awarded each year for the next three academic years starting in 2018, to students wishing to pursue doctoral studies in Computer Science, Engineering, Media and Communications, Business Management or Economics.  These disciplines represent some of the majors in the undergraduate program offered by UCA’s School of Arts and Sciences. Support for students entering a master’s program, as a pathway to a doctoral degree, will also be considered.

These scholarships are part of UCA’s ongoing Central Asian Faculty Development Program (CAFDP) designed to ensure that scholars from the region are strongly represented in UCA’s faculty.  Scholarship recipients will be required to work for three years at the UCA after the completion of their studies at the University of Cambridge.  Applicants from Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Kazakhstan, as well as from Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and northern Pakistan are eligible to apply.  They must meet eligibility benchmarks of UCA, and the admissions criteria of the University of Cambridge.

UCA is Central Asia’s sole regional university with fully-residential campuses in Naryn, Kyrgyzstan and Khorog, Tajikistan with state-of-the art facilities, small staff-student ratios, and generous provisions for faculty to engage in research. The third campus in Tekeli, Kazakhstan is expected to be operational by 2021.