New Delhi: The Young India Fellowship, a one-year postgraduate programme in Liberal Studies at Ashoka University, announced that applications for the seventh batch of the Fellowship will be accepted from 22 August, 2016. Some of the disciplines offered under Young India Fellowship include Economics, Statistics, Philosophy, Art and Culture, History, Literature, Business and Management, Leadership and Group Dynamics, International Relations, Visual Communication, and Writing. The programme is delivered in collaboration with University of Pennsylvania, Carleton College, University of California Berkeley, University of Michigan, King’s College London, Trinity College Dublin, Sciences Po, Yale University and Wellesley College.
The admissions process for the Class of 2017-18 will be divided into two rounds. The first round of admissions will begin on 22 August, 2016 and will close on 18 December, 2016. This will be followed by a personal interview of the shortlisted candidates commencing from 1st November, 2016. The second round of admissions will begin on 19 December, 2016 and end on 28 February, 2017. As per the statement by the Ashoka University, interested applicants should apply on www.youngindiafellowship.com
Eligibility: Young India Fellowship Programme is open to all young men and women and candidate must hold a recognized undergraduate or postgraduate degree. His/her age should not be more than 28 years of age on 31 May 2016.
The strength of the cohort has quadrupled in the last 6 years, with an increase in the number of applicants every year. To meet this increasing demand, the number of seats for the programme is increased to 300 for the year 2017-18. The current batch has 215 Fellows, who come from more than 25 states and from diverse academic fields such as Engineering, Humanities, Sciences, Business and Law.
Dr. Pramath Raj Sinha, Founding Dean of the YIF, and Trustee of Ashoka University, said: “As we open admissions for the seventh batch, we are excited about making this transformational and globally unique Fellowship accessible to a larger talent pool in India while maintaining the programme’s high quality and, in fact, bringing in innovations every year.”
Ashoka University informed that the courses are taught by expert faculty from around the world including Kenwyn Smith, Professor of Organisational Behaviour from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania; Rudrangshu Mukherjee, Historian, Author and Vice Chancellor, Ashoka University; A.K. Shiva Kumar, Development Economist and Visiting Professor, Harvard University; and Mihir Shah, Member, Planning Commission of India and member of the National Advisory Council.
YIF offers full and partial scholarships to successful applicants and there is no fee for applying to the programme. Alumni of the YIF have already begun to make a mark and are doing well in diverse fields. Some of the achievements by our Fellows for this year are below:
Nikita Saxena: Awarded the Red Ink Award for Excellence in Journalism for her in-depth investigative report on the manner in which tobacco companies are circumventing advertising laws in India.
Avni Ahuja: Declared one of 50 The Economic Times Young Leaders in 2016.
Raunak Mittal: Awarded the Commonwealth Scholarship and Aga Khan Foundation Scholarship to study MA in Law and Diplomacy at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University.
The Young India Fellowship (YIF) is a one-year multidisciplinary postgraduate diploma programme in Liberal Studies. The Fellowship brings together a group of bright young individuals who show exceptional intellectual ability and leadership potential from across the country, and trains them to become aware and committed to social change.
YIF commenced its first academic session in June 2011 with 57 Fellows selected from among 900 applicants. By its sixth year, the number of applications had increased to approximately 4000, and now the Class of 2016-17 has 215 Fellows attending the programme at Ashoka University.
