We are delighted to announce an exciting opportunity for undergraduate students to attend a 6-week summer programme from 1 July to 10 August 2024 at Ashoka University in India, supported by a number of grants from the Turing Scheme.

Established in 2014, Ashoka University is located in the National Capital Region (NCR) approximately 2 hours from Delhi and focuses on liberal education in the Humanities, Social Sciences and Sciences. The aim at Ashoka is to help students become well-rounded individuals who can think critically about issues from multiple perspectives, communicate effectively, and become leaders with a commitment to public service.

The Programme

Students will take one course from the summer semester programme available at: Ashoka University: Leading Liberal Arts and Sciences University (check "Summer Courses" tab). Students will receive an official transcript on successful completion of the programme.

Accommodation, Campus Facilities and Support

All international visiting students are guaranteed campus accommodation in fully-furnished residence halls. Rooms are provided on double-occupancy basis. Single room accommodation is not available. Visiting international students are housed with Ashoka students to encourage intercultural exchange. Students receive a meal plan (buffet and combo meals) at the dining facilities of Ashoka.

A full residential campus with fully air-conditioned rooms, common student lounges, state of the art classrooms and sprawling lawns, the Ashoka University campus is designed for a vibrant student life. A 50,000 feet indoor sports complex with a swimming pool offers several opportunities in the summer. Students can choose from a range of sporting and other activities. 

Visiting students are welcome to use the campus facilities while studying at Ashoka including library, campus shuttle, sport facilities, health services and more. 

A transfer service from the Airport to Ashoka University will be provided and all students on the programme will be paired with a student from Ashoka to provide informal help and guidance.

Fees and Finance

The fee for the 6-week programme (one course) is USD 2400 (approx £1920).   This includes tuition fees, accommodation, meals and campus facilities but does NOT include travel costs.

A number of Turing grants are available to support this opportunity as follows:

• Widening Participation Students: £147.50 per week (£885 total) towards the fee for the programme plus £745 towards travel costs.  Additionally the balance between the grant amount and the fee for the programme will be covered in full by Durham University.
• Non-Widening Participation students: £120 per week (£720 total) towards the fee for the programme. No additional travel funds are available for non-WP students. These funds can be used as a contribution to programme fee, the cost of which will be invoiced directly to the student.

You must meet certain criteria to be eligible for Widening Participation grant. Students’ eligibility for support will be assessed as part of the application process.  

Please note, funding is limited and cannot be guaranteed for every applicant.

How to Apply

Eligibility:

• Students should have a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or above on a 4.0 scale, or equivalent;
• Students in their final year of undergraduate study are not eligible to apply.

Step 1: Students must complete the Durham University application form available below.  This will collect details required to assess eligibility for funding as well as information needed for nomination to Ashoka University. Students are also asked to provide a short personal statement which may be used to allocate grants if we have more eligible applicants than funding available.

Durham application deadline: Friday 1st March (12 noon)

Selection: Once this deadline has passed, eligibility will be checked and personal statements will be scored by a University panel. In the event there are more applications than grants available, grants will be awarded based on a 50 : 50 mix of:

• Scores from personal statements

• Academic Performance - this is a score are taken from your performance relative to your class-peers for each module previously examined. The score for each module is then combined to produce an average ranking relative to your peers. This removes any bias towards departments who may have marked exams more generously but subsequently moderated with high grade boundaries for degree classification. The ranking takes into account module credit size. The data for scores is taken from the Academic Office records. The Global Opportunities Team can only accept the scores provided by them.

Step 2: The Global Opportunities Team will nominate students to Ashoka. Ashoka will then guide nominated students to apply through the portal.

Step 3: Students must make an official application to Ashoka University via the application portal for Visiting International Students (VSP) for the Summer Semester program: Application portal.

Click on New Registration --- Choose Visiting Student Programme (international students) --- then choose I wish to visit Ashoka University for* Summer Semester

Then continue and register for the Visiting Student Programme. Once registered, the system will guide students to fill in the online form with the required information.

Students need to upload the following documents to the Ashoka Application portal

• CV/resume
• Academic Transcript
• 1 Letter of Recommendation from Durham University
• Statement of Purpose
• Passport copy

Application deadline: Wednesday 1st May 2024 (11.55PM IST)

Visa and insurance

All international students will require a visa for India. Once accepted, students receive a visa support letter from Ashoka University. It is mandatory that international students have health insurance coverage for India.

Please Note: It is mandatory that students complete Durham's predeparture processes, including VIATOR travel cover and the health declaration form.

Contact for further information: exchanges.studyabroad@durham.ac.uk