Back row: Jane Forster (Project Officer, Careers and Employability Service), Greg Rider, Helen Jenkins, Lady Newby, Vice-Chancellor Professor Sir Howard Newby and Dr Paul Redmond, who had mentored the students before the interview. Front row: Finalists Robert, Charlotte, Claire and Mohammad
A second-year student has won the chance of a lifetime thanks to a scholarship made by the Circumnavigators Club.
Following a bequest made to the Friends of the University by Jack Roberts, who was himself a Friend of the University and a member of the Circumnavigator’s Club in New York, the Vice-Chancellor’s wife, Lady Newby, visited the Circumnavigators Club in order to pay thanks on behalf of the Friends.
As a result of the visit the club offered one of its prestigious scholarships to a student of the University – the first time one has been offered in the UK.
Students were asked to write a travel-study plan of a three-month journey with a grant of £9,000. From more than 70 applications, a short list of four was drawn up.
Charlotte Tamplin, Robert Simpson, Claire Wormald and Mohammad Alam were invited to the Foundation Building to face an interview panel which included Greg Rider, President of the Circumnavigators Club Foundation, and the first recipient of the scholarship back in 1964, and the UK President Helen Jenkins.
The winner was undergraduate student Robert who is studying for a Combined Honours BA in International Development and English. The topic of his proposal was Decisions and Freedom: Literacy and Democracy in Developing Countries and during his research he will visit Mali, Ethiopia, India, Laos, Guatemala and Nicaragua.
Dr Paul Redmond, Head of the Careers and Employability Service, who mentored the four shortlisted students, said: “What an amazing opportunity for one of our students to have received this grant and be able to undertake such exciting and innovative research which will be beneficial to his own career development, the Circumnavigators Club, the University of Liverpool and beyond!”
On his return, Robert will write a report of his findings and make a presentation to the club before being ‘recognised’ at a special ceremony and designated a ‘Foundation Scholar’.