Rhodes Trust announces sixth scholarship for India

In line with its growing focus on India, China and Africa, the Rhodes Trust has announced the establishment of a sixth Rhodes Scholarship for India, a fully funded postgraduate scholarship that enables students from all fields to study at the University of Oxford.

The scholarship is endowed in perpetuity in partnership with the Radhakrishnan-Rajan family.

“Our current goal is to increase the number of scholarships for India to ten. But ultimately we would like to increase it to 25,” said Elizabeth Kiss, CEO of the Rhodes Trust, University of Oxford. sector of activity.

The new Indian Rhodes Scholarship was announced by Kiss on Thursday in New Delhi, in the presence of the Radhakrishnan-Rajan family, US Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti, Rhodes National Secretary for India Dhvani Mehta and Rhodes Administrator Menaka Guruswamy, according to a statement. .

The Trust is extremely grateful to Mukund Rajan and Soumya Rajan for their generosity and leadership in establishing this scholarship, and for the partnership of a US Rhodes Scholar and his wife, and the University of Oxford, to provide additional funding to ensure its permanence. added.

Kiss highlighted that the scholarship funds Indian students opting for a wide range of subjects. “The most popular studies in recent years among Indian scholars at Rhodes have been law, public policy and South Asian studies. But we also had neuroscience, physics and biology. And one of our new academics who is flying to Oxford tomorrow is going to study theology.”

The Rhodes Scholarships, for over a century, have sought out young people of exceptional character from around the world and brought them to the University of Oxford to study, encouraging them to form friendships and pursue a life of service, Kiss said.

“This new scholarship honors two individuals, Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, one of India’s great scholars and statesmen, whose birthday is celebrated every year in India as National Teachers’ Day, and Raghavachari Govindarajan, whose life was dedicated to public service. I look forward to seeing the determined impact of those who seize this opportunity in the years to come, as they join our global network of scholars eager to change the world for the better,” she added.

The first selection for this new scholarship will take place next year, with the successful candidate arriving at Oxford in autumn 2026.