Ensure Equitable Access to Quality Education and a Diverse Student Population
We want to make sure that excellent students from around the world do not have to abandon their dream of joining the Institute and of ultimately making a significant contribution to the world because they cannot finance their studies.
Our “Make a Difference” scholarships target students combining Excellence and Need.
We will give priority to regions of the world that are under-represented at the Institute and/or are facing critical times.
On many dimensions, Africa is the continent of the future. Its rapid demographic growth and the youth of its population are the basis of an innovative and entrepreneurial potential that will be impossible to match in other parts of the world in coming years and decades. The African continent is rising as a major actor of multilateralism – affirming its own voice. The training of a new generation of leaders and decision-makers for the region and the world should be one of our priorities at the Institute. Bringing excellent African students to Geneva implies financial support – fellowships there do make a difference!
They also make a difference in parts of the world facing critical times. In the spring of 2023, we launched the Maria Rosario Lazzati Niada Scholarship for Afghan women. The association Arghosha Faraways Schools is financing the Scholarship for the first three years – but we need to keep it alive well beyond. Other regions where a critical situation calls for a particular focus at this time are the Middle East or Ukraine.
The Geneva Graduate Institute is committed to a policy of equal opportunity and all applications are considered on their merit.
Make a difference – Help a generation of students who will make a significant contribution to the world!
I grew up in working class Madina, daughter of a vegetable peddler at the local street market and an electrician. Understanding that education could help us achieve more in life than was possible for them, my parents went to huge lengths - borrowing money sometimes - to ensure that my siblings and I were the first generation in our family to finish secondary school and attend university. As the only girl in the family, I felt especially lucky as many uneducated parents neglected the education of their girl-children because they could not see the path it paved to a decent livelihood, that is if a school was even present in the community. Due to the sacrifices my parents made for me to further my education, I make every effort to go against all odds to stay in school and achieve my goal of bringing change to girl-child education in Ghana and Africa. I am grateful for the scholarship from FERIS (Foundation pour l’Etude des Relations Internationales en Suisse) which has enabled me not to give up on my dreams as well as that of my widowed mother.
Monica Selasi BOTCHWAY, Ghana, Master in Development Studies, recipient of the FERIS Scholarship in 2021-2022
For a student like me, who came from one of the poorest country in Africa, pursuing a PhD at one of the prestigious Institutes in the world would have been impossible if it was not for your generous financial support. This is why Michael and Shadia Schneider scholarship, which turned my dream of pursuing PhD into reality, will forever take a special place in my life. Words are not enough to express how much grateful I am for the financial support that you provided me over the last two years.
Wubeshet TIRUNEH, Ethiopia, PhD Candidate in International Law, recipient of the Michael and Shadia Schneider Scholarship in 2017-2018 and 2018-2019.
I was born during the Salvadoran Civil War and recall very clearly the day the Peace Agreements were signed in 1992. I was nine years old and it felt as if time had stopped and the whole country paused to follow the event on their televisions or radios. I remember my family’s smiles and people swarming the streets to celebrate.
I first came across the Graduate Institute while researching for a paper during my bachelor’s degree at the University of El Salvador. It became my dream to one day study here. So, when the Institute offered its first online module, I applied with no hesitation. After nine years of working as a diplomat, I was going to pursue a master’s degree.
Then, with the support of my now husband and the Pierre Keller Scholarship, I was able to enrol in the Dual Master Programme the Institute offers with Harvard Kennedy School. I was humbled and honoured to be the first Salvadoran to obtain this dual master.
Egriselda GONZALEZ LOPEZ, El Salvador, Master in International Affairs, recipient of the Pierre Keller Scholarship in 2017–2018 and 2018–2019.