Purpose: This scheme is planned to provide financial support for Iranian PhD students to undertake a research attachment in British universities or higher education institutions.

Arrangement: The scholars introduced by Iranian Universities will be interviewed by the British Council, Iran.

The awards recipients and their supervisors are encouraged to recommend schools or universities for their research visit.

PhD partial scholars will be provided the amount of £2500 to undertake a research attachment for a minimum of three months.

Timetable: All candidates must start their programmes by February 2007.

Subject area:  Applications may come from all subject areas; however, this year preference will be given to the following subjects:

• Environment
• Nanotechnology
• Health Management
• Health Economy
• English Language
• Petroleum related research
• Geo-environmental Engineering

Application criteria

Applicants must:

• have supplementary scholarships provided for them before leaving Iran
• have passed their PhD general exam
• as required by Foreign and Commonwealth Office, all PhD students undertaking research attachment in the UK must be issued a work permit by the host university. The responsibility for obtaining a work permit and visa lies directly with the scholars.
• be able to leave Iran before January 2007
• have an excellent command of English language. Candidates must be ready to sit for the IELTS examination if required. The minimum requirement is 6.5 in IELTS or 70 in MCHE tests.

Please Note: The deadline for 2006 / 2007 British Council Partial Scholarships' applications has passed. Interested applicants should refer to the International Office of their universities in the next academic year (2007 / 2008).