Some useful links for university students. Conferences, summer school and more.
Are you a university student from Kazakhstan for whom the classroom is just not enough?
Do you have good knowledge of English? (if you understand what I am writing, that should be enough :)
Is the purely home-study-home routine too boring for you?
Do you want to change the world? (Yes, it is possible!)
If you answered yes to any of these questions, then this blog is for you!
I'm Aizhan Kapysheva, a 4th year International Relations student at Nazarbayev University. Since my freshman year I have participated in various conferences, forums and events which certainly helped me to shape both my personality and professional career. The countries I travelled for free (yes, it is competitive, but possible!) are the UK, Armenia, Tajikistan, Slovakia, Hungary, Austria, the Czech Republic, Turkey, China and USA. In most of these events there were not many other participants from Kazakhstan (or none!), but I believe that YOU and other university students have knowledge, talent and skills to show the world how smart you are and represent our country.
Each blog post I will update you about events or youth organizations you can apply for. I find the info for such events on these websites: heysuccess, edu-active, mlaadiinfo and youthop. Also I subscribe to numerous groups on Facebook such as Scholarships opportunities & Exchange programs, Eduactive, EducationUSA, Youth Global Network, UN Global Education First Initiative - Youth Advocacy Group, Scholarships Info and many more. The full list you can find in my 'Likes' pages on Facebook.
The events posted here are related to international relations, specifically: public health, development, peace studies, youth mobilization, European studies, UN studies, NGOs, grass-root organizations, human rights, women's rights etc.
While I encourage you to do your own research, because we have different interests, here are top 5 events that you can apply to:
1) International Summer School in the University of Oslo
Every summer, from late June to early August, the program welcomes over 550 students from about 90 countries. I know at least two students from Kazakhstan who have participated in this event! The program is highly competitive (of course, then why would the University of Oslo fund participants!), but definitely, you should give it a try.
Fees: Fully funded
Where: Oslo (obviously!), Norway
Deadline: December 5, 2015
Applications for the 2016 session (June 25 - August 5, 2016) open on December 1.
Please check all the requirements on the official website.
2) The Hansen Summer Institute on Leadership and International Cooperation
Awesome program with a very big application package (again, they want to ensure that the participants are highly qualified:) that is aimed for college/university or graduate student with a professional interest in international relations, diplomacy, international economic development or related fields. Personally I do not anyone who got here. I was too lazy to apply, let me know if you get in!
Fees: Fully funded
Where: San Diego, California, USA
Deadline: 4 January 2016
Program Dates: June 29 - July 25, 2016
3) MIRAI programme funded by The Government of Japan
"A short-term youth exchange programme, to invite about 150 graduate and undergraduate students from Europe, Russia, Central Asia and the Caucasus who study politics, security policies and economics in Asia or Japan." I got this info from NU Career and Advising Center and I am sure that students other than NU would also qualify for this program. Please call/contact the Embassy of Japan for further info, because there is an application form that should be submitted to the Embassy of Japan along with a copy of the passport. Successful candidates will be invited to an interview during the period of 20 October and 4 November.
Fees: Fully funded.
Where: Tokyo, Japan + rural areas
Deadline: October 16, 2015
Program Dates: December 15, 2015 - December 22, 2015
Deadline for application (): October 16, 2015
4) The George P. Johnson Scholarship to attend One Young World
Only one candidate will be chosen, but do not feel discouraged! If you are engaged with impactful projects in their country or community, have proven leadership ability and a track record of accomplishments and strong ambitions for future development, you are a strong candidate!
Fees: Fully funded
Where: Bangkok, Thailand
Deadline: October 14, 2015
Program dates: November 18-21, 2015
5) Global Shapers Community, an initiative of the World Economic Forum
It is actually not a conference, but a professional youth-led organization that I am a member of. Global Shapers Community unites active youth not older than 30 to be a part of city hubs driven to make a positive change in their communities. In Kazakhstan we have active Astana and Almaty hubs of GSC. The leader of the hub is called curator. The first curator of Astana Hub is Sayasat Nurbek, then it was Asset Abdualliyev and now it is Aiman Yedigeyeva who all are the examples of young, motivated and strong leaders. One of the biggest projects that Astana Hub has realized was Shape Eurasia 2014 where more than 70 shapers came to Astana for a conference on multicultural society in Kazakhstan. These days Shape Eurasia 2015 is hosted by Bishkek Hub in Kyrgyzstan. During these events shapers all over the world come together, share experience, make business contacts and then realize the projects together. If you want to be a part of it, then go the official website, choose Astana Hub and apply. After the application is received and approved by the team, applicants are to have an interview about the projects they can bring to a community. One of the projects that Astana Hub is implementing is this - writing you about all these educational opportunities and share the knowledge!
Please feel free to share any links you found yourselves in the comments. Rememeber that you can find the opportunities yourself by doing research and surfing the web. Also I would advise to check the official websites for credible information. Feel free to contact the organizers and write them emails/ add on Facebook etc.
Looking forward to your comments, shares, constructive feedback and, of course, success stories!
We gain more when we share J
