Supporting the leaders of tomorrow

Azerbaijan, Belarus, Egypt, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon – just some of the countries whose students feature in the first cohort for a new scholarship programme at Oxford. Announced in March, the Weidenfeld Leadership Programme and Scholarship Scheme aims to provide financial support for leaders of tomorrow: postgraduate students who plan to return to their own countries in due course and play a significant role in public life either at home or internationally. 

The inaugural year group of Weidenfeld Scholars was selected from amongst those eligible students who had already been accepted for a Master’s or doctoral course at Oxford. A shortlist was drawn up and those on it were invited to Oxford last spring for a rigorous selection weekend of interviews and group activities, after which 17 postgraduate students were chosen to be the first Weidenfeld Scholars.

Not only does the programme support the Scholars’ graduate studies, it also offers them a broad range of mentoring, networking and leadership development opportunities. The Weidenfeld Scholarships are managed by the Weidenfeld Institute, a London-based policy organisation which works with leaders in business, politics and the media to bridge international and intercommunal divides. This is the latest of a number of projects run by the Institute, which include the Franco-British-German Club of Three, the Frontiers of Europe Initiative and the M100 East–West Media Bridge. These projects work to address long-term social and political challenges and foster Europe’s relations with its neighbours, with Russia, the USA and the Middle East. Strengthening relationships across the continents is also a strong theme of the Weidenfeld Scholarship programme. It is open to candidates primarily from Eastern Europe, Russia, North Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia, and one key aim is to help foster active professional networks in and between each of these areas. Another is to promote the post-university careers of its scholars through work placements, pro-bono projects, long-term mentoring and engagement in leadership and conference programmes.

The first year group started in Oxford in October. They come from 12 different countries in all and are studying in 11 departments across the University on a wide range of courses, including Environmental Change and Management, Economics, Criminology, Migration Studies, Politics and Sociology.Lord Weidenfeld is President of the Weidenfeld Institute, Vice- President of the University’s Development Programme, a member of the Chancellor’s Court of Benefactors and Honorary Fellow of St Peter’s and St Anne’s Colleges. He says: ‘Our Scholars are an extraordinary group of young people with exceptional qualities. I believe they are a wonderful asset to their countries as well as to Oxford University and they give great hope for the future.’As well as settling into the University and 12 different colleges, the students took part in a one-week leadership development programme, organising seminars and speakers’ series on global policy issues and participating in conferences and meetings of the Weidenfeld Institute and other institutions. Sir Ronald Grierson, a member of the Board of the Weidenfeld Institute and Co-Chairman of the Weidenfeld Scholarships, says: ‘The leadership dimension of this exciting programme is meant to foster an esprit de corps among the scholars and to build the foundation for long-term professional networking and mentoring.’

Welcoming the new scholarship as a complement to the range already available to students coming to Oxford, the Vice-Chancellor, Dr John Hood, said: ‘Oxford is a truly international university and the presence of overseas students who can contribute new perspectives and different experiences is an important element. We are enormously grateful to the Weidenfeld Institute for procuring thisgenerous support from a single donor and for the vision for this new programme, which will help to ensure that Oxford continues to play a role in educating and shaping future leaders.’ Just a matter of months into its first year, plans for expansion of the programme are already being developed. Lord Weidenfeld says: ‘Ultimately we aim to expand the number and possibly the geographical reach of the scholarship programme, and to acquire a property in Oxford to serve as a base for Weidenfeld Scholars.’ 

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