Mumbai: Every student dreams of studying abroad in a world-renowned university but their dreams are not fulfilled due to the large amount of money involved. This would no longer be a cherished dream as the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) Ltd India has announced the HSBC Scholarship Programme.

The scholarship programme will be introduced to help students in getting easier access to studying in the United Kingdom (UK).

"The programme will select two students and will provide them £25,000 (Rs.20 lakh) per year to pursue any graduate and post graduate programme at Oxford University, Cambridge University or University of London," said Malini Thadani, head group communications and corporate sustainability at HSBC.

In its eighth year, the aim of the programme is to build a community of leaders that will attain global knowledge and at the same time contribute to the society.

"We are in a lookout for students with a potential and the vision of improving the lives of people not only in India but around the world. The passouts from this scholarship programme are expected to use their education for the benefit of others," added Thadani.

"The criteria for choosing the students for conferring the scholarship will be based on their previous academic record and future potential, leadership qualities apart from writing a 500 word statement-of-purpose that explains future goals and how studying in UK will help him/ her achieve that goal," she said.

Students will also need to nominate two referees who will comment on their character and non-academic achievements.

"Our job does not end by merely offering scholarship to the student. The student will be submitting progress reports which will include academic and extracurricular achievements. These have to be certified by the relevant heads of department of the student's university," said Thadani.

The Progress reports will be monitored by HSBC officials to ensure the continuation of the scholarship for the full three-year term.

DETAILS
- Candidates must be below 25 years of age.
- Scholarship will cover fees, living expenses and airfare from India to London for three years
- Students can apply on or before May 26 to avail the scholarship.