Chilean International Cooperation Agency (AGCI) – Nelson Mandela Scholarships for 2018
Programme outline
The Chilean International Cooperation Agency (AGCI) is
offering scholarships for accredited Master's degree studies, taught in
Spanish, at Chilean universities and higher education institutions, for
the 2018 academic year, beginning in March 2018.
Degree level
Master's
Deadlines
31 October 2017
Eligibility
Applications submitted by public officials or academic officials
at officially recognized universities in South Africa will be given
priority.
Classes and/or the Spanish course shall begin on or after the first week
of March 2018, so selected candidates must be available to travel to
Chile for these dates.
What the scholarship offers
The scholarship provides benefits that are limited to the following items:
i. An Immersion Spanish Language Course that may last for one
(1) academic semester in advance of or in parallel with the start of the
corresponding Master's Program. (Applicants who are certified in the
Spanish language need not take this course).
ii. Payment of return air fares between the capital of their country of
origin and their destination city on arrival in Chile (applicants must
finance their own stays in the city of Santiago, Chile, to undertake
paperwork procedures with AGCI) and back to the capital of the country
of origin on completing their studies.
iii. Payment of matriculation, tuition, and graduation fees charged by
the corresponding higher education institution, for the duration of the
postgraduate program, with a limit of four (4) academic semesters or six
(6) academic quarters, depending on the calendar used by the
corresponding institution (up to a maximum of twenty-four (24) months).
In any case, all costs that correspond exclusively to the academic
curriculum of the study program for which the scholarship is granted
must be included.
iv. Payment of a monthly maintenance stipend of five hundred thousand
Chilean pesos (CLP 500,000) for the duration of the scholarship period.
Said stipend shall be paid for the duration of the program, up to a
limit of twenty-four (24) months.
v. AGCI will only pay scholarship holders 100% of the monthly stipend
for the months of December, January, and/or February if they remain in
Chile for more than half of the corresponding month. In any other case,
AGCI will pay only 50% of the value of the stipend (months of December,
January, and February).
vi. For the duration of the scholarship, coverage for the holder with
life, health, and accident insurance for events that affect them and
occur within Chile territory. They will also be provided with a
Collaboration Convention with the Public Health Social Security System
(FONASA), and shall be entitled to care through the Chilean Public
Health System and Services, from the time when they are issued with a
national identity card by the Chilean Civil Registration Service.
vii. Scholarship holders will be granted a single payment amounting to
ninety thousand pesos (CLP 90,000) for study materials and textbooks,
paid during the first study cycle of their program.
viii. Scholarship holders will be granted a single payment of one half
of their monthly stipend for thesis costs or analogous requirements of
their higher education institution for granting the corresponding
degree, so long as their grade point average is equal to or higher than
5.5 (five point five [out of seven]) or equivalent. For these purposes
scholarship holders must provide documentary proof of the aspects
discussed in Clause 3, Point V of the Scholarship Granting and
Acceptance Agreement, the format of which is attached hereto as Annex 2,
before the end of the nineteenth (19th) month of payment by AGCI of the
stipend discussed in Point IV of this section.
See attached Call for Applications for more information
Fields of Study
Astronomy, Agriculture, Aquaculture, Energy, Management of
Public Policies, Health, Environment, and Mining, (see Annex 1 for a
full list).
Application process
Steps to be followed when applying:
The student browses through Annex 1 to decide on the university and MA academic programme s/he wants to pursue:
1. The student then has to check the university's/ universities' website(s) and submits an application;
2. It is advisable for applicants to follow a parallel process of
simultaneously applying for the scholarship through the Chilean Embassy
in Pretoria [this helps just in case the university responds after the
scholarship deadline];
3. The applicant should then make follow up with the university/ universities until admission letter is received; and
4. The university's admission letter from the university should be
immediately submitted through the Chilean Embassy in Pretoria.
See all Annexes below for full information on the application process.
Scholarship application documents must be submitted at the Chilean Embassy in South Africa.
Queries can be sent to: Ms Magdalena Godoy
Email: embassy@chile.org.za Tel: 012460 8090 / 012 460 8093
Practical advice
• Applicants are advised to make sure they have a passport that will
expire, at the least, three years later or reapply for a new passport.
• ApplicantsEmployed applicants should establish whether or not their
employers would release them for a period of two years and 6 months (30
months) since the first 6 months is for an intensive Spanish course
followed by 2 years/ 24 months for the MA course. Alternatively the
applicant should be willing to resign and be optimistic the course will
open doors on their return. This is indeed a realistic expectation given
that the recipient of the scholarship will, amongst others, have
acquired a more senior academic qualification, learnt a new language
(Spanish), gotten international exposure, etc.
Documents and links
Note
Please note that this opportunity is not offered by the
Department of Higher Education and Training. Applicants are required to
undertake their own research into programmes and institutions. If there
are any discrepancies in the details provided, the information given by
the sponsor supersedes the details provided above.
