Engineering a Reverse Rhodes

U.S. and U.K. engineering academies establish new scholarship.

Eight U.S. universities, including Duke, have established the Vest Scholarship program, a “reverse Rhodes Scholarship,” to spur international collaborations among graduate students whose studies are focused on tackling some of the world’s biggest engineering challenges.

In the scholarship’s first year, students from schools attending the Global Grand Challenges Summit in London will be eligible to apply for the scholarships. Later, the program will be expanded to additional schools. Applicants will be able to pursue graduate studies at top U.S. universities, including N.C. State, Caltech, Olin College, the University of Southern California, the University of Washington, Illinois Institute of Technology, and MIT, in addition to Duke.

Students who are chosen will receive an expenses-paid year to pursue research opportunities related to the fourteen National Academy of Engineering Grand Challenges for Engineering, designed to improve life in the twenty-first century.

The scholarship, named after the departing NAE President Charles M. Vest, has been endorsed by both the NAE and the U.K.’s Royal Academy of Engineering.

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