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Thirty Chevening scholars are welcomed to Birkbeck

The prestigious Chevening scholarships are offered every year to promising students by the UK Government’s international awards scheme, aimed at developing global leaders.

Some members of this year’s Chevening scholars cohort

Birkbeck has welcomed 30 new Chevening scholars this year, hailing from 27 countries - 14 students from Africa, four from the Americas, eight from Asia, three from Europe, and one from Oceania. 

The Chevening programme enables outstanding emerging leaders to pursue one-year Master’s degrees in the UK, funded by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and partner organisations.

Professor Kevin Ibeh, Pro Vice-Chancellor (International), Professor Anthony Bale, Executive Dean of the School of Arts and Professor of Medieval Studies, and Catherine Charpentier and Veridiana Ribeiro, International Marketing and Recruitment Officers, recently welcomed the new cohort to Birkbeck at a reception held on Thursday 22 October. Students that couldn’t attend in-person were able to live-stream the event.

Professor Kevin Ibeh commented: “Congratulations to our new Chevening scholars for winning these competitive and prestigious scholarships and for being admitted into Birkbeck University of London, a world class research and teaching institution. I’m delighted to welcome them into our Birkbeck family, particularly in the lead up to the College’s 200th anniversary in 2023. Birkbeck’s long and distinguished history is full of heroic accounts of innovations and triumphs over complex challenges, and I urge our new Chevening scholars to embrace this resilient spirit as they strive to benefit from the College’s outstanding educational and experiential offer despite a global pandemic. I wish them all the best as they embark on their studies.”

Eyere Takor, a Chevening scholar enrolled on the MSc Education, Power and Social Change programme, said: “Over the last 45 years I’ve gone from being a wife and the mother of five children, to a teacher, mentor, educational administrator and founder of several social organisations as I explored a passion for social justice and empowerment. Here I am at almost 69 with a Chevening scholarship, ready to study at the prestigious Birkbeck, University of London!”

This year’s cohort are enrolled onto a wide range of courses, including MA Gender, Sexuality and Culture, MSc Marketing Communications, MSc Climate Change, MSc Human Resource Development and Consultancy, and MA Investigative Reporting, to mention a few.

Professor Anthony Bale added: “It’s a great pleasure and privilege to welcome this year’s scholars to the College and to London; the greatest city on the planet in my opinion. It is wonderful to see that scholars have joined us from all over the world – a testament to Birkbeck, as a diverse and welcoming institution, and London, as a global city.”

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