Back to school – “the SI scholarship gives me a chance of reaching professional goals that I could only dream of”

The SI Scholarship for Global Professionals programme offers fully funded scholarships to around 300 scholars every year. The scholars, from Asia, Africa, Latin America and Easter-Europe are all pursuing masters-level studies at Swedish higher education institutions. They all have an outstanding background, arriving to Sweden with at least a year of work experience and a drive to learn more. A common goal that they all share is the ambition of contributing to the sustainable development of their home country and region.  

As the scholarship offers, they will be spending between one- and two-years learning, exchanging perspectives and networking with fellow scholarship holders and Swedish business and organisations through the SI Network for Global Professionals. Ahead of the school year, we have asked some of them to share their expectations for their time in Sweden.

Tamar Kikachieshvili from Georgia moved to the county of Scania to start her studies of Media, Democracy and Human Rights Linneaus University. For her, studying in Sweden and with the SI Scholarship for Global Professionals, is a way to further her experience as a journalist, she shares:

– I decided to apply for SI Scholarship for Global Professionals when I realized that I wanted to transform my over eighteen years of work experience as a journalist, as a global professional in the field of media development, democracy, and human rights, in Georgia and whole post-Soviet Eurasian region. At this stage of life, I decided to transform my broad practical experience into academia. Sweden is a beautiful country where the society has agreed on important values related to human rights.  For me it is interesting to explore Swedish life, study Swedish language, have Swedish fika with other students and lecturers, get friends here and of course dedicate my time to this outstanding programme that I am attending. 

Melvin Nyonneoh Karwah is a Mining Engineer with over five years of experience in the mining industry in Liberia. In an effort to advance his education and leadership skills, and to continue contributing to his community, he decided to look for studies abroad, when asked why he choose Sweden Melvin said: 

– I applied to study in Sweden because I believe Sweden is one of the best destinations for master’s study especially because of how innovative the country is. My study program is Applied Environmental Science-Ecosystem Services and Nature Resource Management at Halmstad University, and I hope to gain practical and innovative knowledge on environmental issues and be able to profer practical solutions to environmental challenges. 

Pavel Adamchyk just landed in Sweden from Belarus. In a couple of days, he will start his studies in Accounting and Financial Management at the University of Gothenburg. He looks forward to the interdisciplinary connection between sustainability and the field of finance which is particularly studied in his programme.  

– Sweden is known for its approach to sustainable development. My programme provides advanced knowledge in the field of finance and sustainability which will allow me to further my knowledge in how to develop an environmental, social, and corporate governance framework for my region. The framework is a set of indicators evaluating companies in the field of sustainability for subsequent investment and taxation. 

Today, the Swedish Institute has 581 scholars studying at 30 different higher education institutions all over Sweden. SI has worked since 1945 to strengthen relations between Sweden and the rest of the world. The SI Scholarship for Global Professionals is one of the tools in supporting this mission. Read more about the scholarship programme here.