| Roberta Sykes Harvard Club Scholarship application form |
The Roberta Sykes Harvard Club Scholarship
The Harvard Club of Australia
Group is the organisation for Harvard alumni. Formed in 1961, the club’s aim is
to promote fellowship amongst alumni and to assist Australians wishing to study
at Harvard. For more information on the club and its programs, please visit www.harvardclub.org.au
The Roberta Sykes Harvard Club Scholarship provides funding to Indigenous postgraduate students who wish to undertake study at Harvard University.
The value of the scholarship is up to $60,000 per annum to be paid over the course of the Scholar’s study. The Scholarship covers university and college fees, travel costs and living expenses. Only one Scholarship will be available at any point in time. Consequently, each Scholarship will be offered in the year following the expiry of the previous recipient’s tenure.
Eligibility
Applicants must:
Selection of successful applications will be based on academic merit and the applicant’s past and future contributions to the Indigenous communities and to Australia more generally.
Application deadlines:
Applicants for a Roberta Sykes Harvard Club Scholarship are strongly encouraged to begin their application to Harvard University concurrently with their scholarship application.
Each Harvard graduate school or department has its own admissions criteria and deadlines. Before applying, prospective applicants should check the Harvard website (http://www.harvard.edu/admissions-aid) to clarify all deadlines and the exact requirements for admission to their chosen degree program.
Applications for the 2013-2014 Roberta Sykes Harvard Club Scholarship are now closed. We will update application dates on this page when we begin accepting applications for the next Scholarship.
What you need to provide in your application
The Roberta Sykes Harvard Club Scholarship provides funding to Indigenous postgraduate students who wish to undertake study at Harvard University.
The value of the scholarship is up to $60,000 per annum to be paid over the course of the Scholar’s study. The Scholarship covers university and college fees, travel costs and living expenses. Only one Scholarship will be available at any point in time. Consequently, each Scholarship will be offered in the year following the expiry of the previous recipient’s tenure.
Eligibility
Applicants must:
- Be of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent, identify as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander and be accepted as such by the community in which they live or have lived
- Provide a written statement confirming their Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander heritage. In addition, applicants are required to provide a signed statement in writing from the Aboriginal Heritage Association, Aboriginal Corporation or Land Council of the community in which they live or have lived, confirming the above
- Be accepted to the Harvard graduate school of their choice (acceptance to Harvard is not necessary by the time the scholarship application is submitted. Applications from applicants whose acceptance is denied will be withdrawn from consideration.)
- Be able to demonstrate that their studies will be of benefit to their community upon their return to Australia.
Selection of successful applications will be based on academic merit and the applicant’s past and future contributions to the Indigenous communities and to Australia more generally.
Application deadlines:
Applicants for a Roberta Sykes Harvard Club Scholarship are strongly encouraged to begin their application to Harvard University concurrently with their scholarship application.
Each Harvard graduate school or department has its own admissions criteria and deadlines. Before applying, prospective applicants should check the Harvard website (http://www.harvard.edu/admissions-aid) to clarify all deadlines and the exact requirements for admission to their chosen degree program.
Applications for the 2013-2014 Roberta Sykes Harvard Club Scholarship are now closed. We will update application dates on this page when we begin accepting applications for the next Scholarship.
What you need to provide in your application
- Completed application form (download form at the top of this page)
- A one- to two-page personal statement in the form of a covering letter that includes the following information:
- Introduce yourself
- Discuss what you want to study at Harvard, and why
- How you see yourself, as a result of this study, further contributing to your community and the Indigenous community at large, and perhaps even to Australia more generally
- A one-page Community Involvement Statement, comprising three parts:
- Part I should answer the question "What community do you belong to?"
- Part II should answer at least two in a series of questions designed to elicit information regarding your connections with community.
- How do you maintain your connection with your community?
- What are some community activities that you have been involved in?
- How has your community involvement influenced your personal and academic growth?
- Who are your role models?
- Part III should answer the question "How will your course of study further the legacy of Roberta Sykes to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities?"
- Curriculum vitae (CV)
- Academic transcripts for all undergraduate and postgraduate study
- Passport size photo of yourself
- Three written references
- One should be an academic reference
- One from a member in your community, preferably an Elder
- One work-related, eg, current or previous employer
- References submitted in application for acceptance to Harvard University may be used.
- The references should include information on, for example:
- Your academic accomplishments
- Your likelihood of succeeding at Harvard
- Your current and previous leadership roles, including positions of leadership in your community or Indigenous Australia at large
- Your aspirations and how likely you are to achieve them.
Your commitment to the Foundation
The Foundation requests that recipients:
· Provide regular email reports outlining your progress - these reports will be used in
our newsletters and on our website
· Notify the Trust of the dates and destination of any travel outside the country of study
during the term of the Scholarship
· Understand that in the event that you withdraw from or are removed from your course,
the Scholarship may be rescinded by the Foundation, in full or in part, and you may be
liable to repay to the Foundation any amounts that were paid to you under the
Scholarship
· Agree that, on your return to Australia, you will provide reasonable assistance to the
Foundation in the fulfilment of its objectives, including attending fundraising events,
providing orientation advice to other Scholars funded by the Foundation and providing
annual written updates on your progress and your career for inclusion in newsletters
and on our website.
If you require further information or wish to discuss your application before submitting please contact us.
