The five Rhodes Scholars-Elect for India 2013 were chosen and announced recently. After a competitive application and selection process spanning over six months, the finalists were interviewed by the selection panel and quizzed individually on their interests, achievements and goals.

In an unprecedented development, all five Rhodes Scholars-Elect are women, one of them being a second-generation Rhodes Scholar. The selection committee was chaired by Kumar Mangalam Birla, industrialist and included Andrew Graham, the acting warden of Rhodes House, some of the country’s top academics and professionals and a number of Rhodes Scholar alumni.  

The Rhodes Scholarships are postgraduate awards supporting outstanding all-round students and enable two to three years (depending on the academic route taken) of study at the University of Oxford. The scholarships aspire to create ‘leaders for the world’s future’ and are achievement-based awards open to students with proven intellectual and academic attainment of a high standard who show exceptional character, leadership, achievement in extra-curricular activities and a commitment to service in the public good.

Since Independence, there have been 192 Rhodes Scholars from India. This illustrious list includes prominent personalities such as Olympian Ranjit Bhatia, playwright Girish Karnad, and economist Montek Singh Ahluwalia.

Each year, five Indian Scholars are selected on the basis of their intellect, character, leadership, and commitment to service, to join 78 other Rhodes Scholars from around the world at the University of Oxford.  The Rhodes Scholarships, which were instituted under the will of Cecil Rhodes in 1902, include all university and college fees for two to three years (depending on the academic route taken), an annual stipend of around £13,000, health insurance and travel expenses to the University of Oxford before the start of the programme and a return ticket following the course of study. 

The five Rhodes Scholars-Elect from India 2013 are:

1. Kalyani Ramachandran, BA (Hons) in History graduate, St Stephen’s College, University of Delhi
2. Priyanka deSouza, a student of BTech, MTech (Dual Degree) in energy science and systems engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay
3. Jalnidh Kaur, BA (Hons) in Economics graduate, St Stephen’s College, University of Delhi
4. Anupama Kumar, BA LLB (Hons) student, National Law School of India University, Bangalore
5. Arushi Garg, BA LLB (Hons) student, NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad

For more information on the Rhodes Scholarships India, visit www.rhodeshouse.ox.ac.uk/page/rhodes-india