Bangkok--23 Jul--AIT
The Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) on 19 July 2013 announced the names of 66 successful recipients of full academic scholarships for Master degree programs awarded under the prestigious His Majesty the King’s Scholarships, Her Majesty the Queen’s Scholarships and Loom Nam Khong Pijai (GMS) Scholarships programs, for study at AIT beginning in the August 2013.
The scholarships valued at 32 million Thai Baht are provided by the Royal Thai Government (RTG) to qualified students possessing outstanding academic qualifications from Thailand and other Asian countries. They honour His Majesty the King of Thailand, Her Majesty the Queen of Thailand, and Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn.
Each Master level scholarship is valued at 485,450 Thai Baht annually for two semesters, and includes all registration fees, tuition fees, accommodation and bursary.
Final review of the scholarship awardees was made at a meeting on 17 July 2013 involving the presence of Ms. Chadarat Singhadechakul, Director, Bureau of International Cooperation Strategy, Office of the Higher Education Commission (OHEC), Thailand. The selection process was extensive, and encompassed the combined expertise of AIT faculty, staff and an assigned task force.
Interim AIT President Prof. Worsak Kanok-Nukulchai oversaw the final selections, and commented on the extremely high quality of the applicants and final scholarship awardees. All applicants considered were honors students as undergraduates and the large majority of those selected ranked first in their graduating class from prestigious universities in Thailand and around Asia, he said.
“AIT made every attempt to distribute the scholarships to international applicants across as many countries in Asia as possible,” President Worsak said.
A total of 34 people were awarded under H.M. the King’s Scholarships. Half were granted to Thai nationals and half were awarded to applicants from Southeast and South Asian countries. Those selected will enroll in fields of study at the AIT School of Engineering and Technology (SET) and AIT School of Management (SOM).
For H.M. the Queen’s Scholarships, eight Thai nationals and eight non-Thais were awarded scholarships to study at the AIT School of Environment, Resources and Development (SERD).
A total of 16 scholarships were awarded under the Loom Nam Khong Pijai Scholarships named in honor of HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn. The academic awards were open to citizens of the six Greater Mekong Sub-Region (GMS) countries, including Thailand, Lao PDR, Cambodia, Vietnam, Myanmar, and China’s southern province of Yunnan.
According to the AIT admissions Office, 332 people from Thailand and around Asia applied for the highly coveted 66 spots. Officials said the competition was extremely high and all applicants required a minimum of 3.50 accumulated grade point average (GPA) or equivalent to be considered.
Of the 66 final scholarship awardees, 28 are Thai and 38 hail from 12 countries, including Bhutan. The soon-to-be AIT students under Thai Royal Patronage include 35 females and 31 males. One person from Tanzania, Africa, was also granted a H.M. the Queen’s Scholarship. Scholarship awardees are from Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, India, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Thailand, and Vietnam.