Offering 11 Master Scholarships in Public Health by American University of Beirut (AUB)

FULL SCHOLARSHIPS FOR MASTER’S DEGREES IN PUBLIC HEALTH FOCUSING ON IMPLEMENTATION RESEARCH ON THE INFECTIOUS DISEASES OF POVERTY

Application deadline: July 15, 2015.

Link to online graduate application: https://graduateadmissions.aub.edu.lb/

The Faculty of Health Sciences (FHS) at the American University of Beirut (AUB), Lebanon is offering 11 scholarships for graduate education in public health for the academic year 2015-2016. Funding for these scholarships is from the Special Programme for Research and Training on Tropical Diseases (TDR) hosted at the World Health Organization in Geneva. Successful applicants will be part of a global network of fellows supported by TDR that includes students enrolled in 7 institutions worldwide.

SCHOLARSHIP OBJECTIVE

The objective of the scholarship program is to strengthen capacity in implementation research on the neglected tropical diseases (http://www.who.int/neglected_diseases/diseases/en/) as well as malaria and tuberculosis. Implementation research is a growing field that supports the identification of health system bottlenecks and approaches to address them, and is particularly useful in low- and middle-income countries where many evidence-based health interventions do not reach those who need them the most. For further information on this international scholarship scheme see

http://www.who.int/tdr/news/2015/7_universities_selected/en/ .

DEGREE PROGRAMS OFFERED

In the Eastern Mediterranean region, the scholarships will be open for the following degrees offered by the Faculty of Health Sciences (FHS) at AUB:

1. Master of Public Health (MPH) with a choice of 3 areas of concentration:

o Epidemiology and Biostatistics (EPBS)

o Health Promotion and Community Health (HPCH)

o Health Management and Policy (HMP)

2. Master of Science in Epidemiology (MS EPID)

DEGREE PROGRAM DURATION

Both the MPH and MS degree take two years to complete and only full-time applicants are eligible for this scholarship.

ELIGIBLITY AND ADMISSION CRITERIA

The scholarship supported by TDR is available to individuals who are nationals of and resident in a low or middle-income country (http://data.worldbank.org/about/country-and-lending-groups#Lower_middle_income ) of the Eastern Mediterranean region – EMRO (http://www.emro.who.int/countries.html). 2

To be eligible for admission for FHS/AUB, students must meet the following minimum requirements:

 Good academic record in undergraduate education (and graduate education where relevant) in any discipline (health sciences, social sciences, nutrition, medicine, nursing, pharmacy, dentistry, sciences or related discipline) and:

(a) hold a bachelor’s degree from AUB, or an equivalent degree from another recognized institution, with a cumulative average of at least 75 and an average of at least 80 or its equivalent in the major field of study; or

(b) hold a graduate degree from AUB or another recognized institution with a cumulative average of 80 or its equivalent.

 Proficiency in English demonstrated by passing the University English Entrance Examination (EEE), or by achieving the minimum required score for TOEFL examination or IELTS.

o Information on the required scores for the different English proficiency tests may be found on page 37 of the online Graduate Catalogue (link below). http://www.aub.edu.lb/registrar/Documents/catalogue/graduate14-15/admissions.pdf

o Applicants who do not meet the English Language Proficiency Requirements will be required to enroll in English language courses before or upon starting their graduate degree programs (depending on the English course level).

HOW TO APPLY

Complete an online application (https://graduateadmissions.aub.edu.lb) and upload supporting documents (as per the requirements on the online application).

Note that only complete applications with all required documentation (including English proficiency test results) submitted online by July 15, 2015 will be considered for admission.

CRITERIA FOR SELECTING SCHOLARSHIP STUDENTS

 Commitment to work in public health in a low and middle income of the of the EMRO region where tropical diseases/tuberculosis or malaria are endemic

 Relevance of applicant’s experience to public health or related fields

 Local need for public health graduates in the country of the applicant

 Previous employment, voluntary work or research experience concerning neglected tropical diseases, tuberculosis and malaria and/or interest/experience in conducting implementation research is desirable

WHAT THE SCHOLARSHIP SUPPORTED BY TDR COVERS

 Round trip air travel from country of residence/nationality

 Full-time tuition for two – two and a half years, including enrolment in an English language course over a full semester for a limited number of students who do not meet the required English score on TOEFL or IELTS

 Stipend for food and accommodation

 Medical and accident insurance

WHY STUDY AT THE FACULTY OF HEALTH SCIENCES AT THE AMERICAN UNIVERSITY OF BEIRUT?

 Oldest independent faculty of public health in the Arab region

 Program accredited by the Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH) and remains the only such accredited program in Africa, Asia, and the Arab world

 Diverse faculty from Lebanon, Iraq, Syria and Canada

 Faculty expertise in conducting implementation research in public health

 Strong collaboration with AUB’s Medical Center and Faculty of Medicine and their Division of Infectious Diseases

 Opportunity to engage with three exciting centers on Research, Public Health Practice and

Knowledge Translation based at the Faculty of Health Sciences

 A rich and stimulating university environment with many opportunities for civic engagement and student activity

SCHEDULE

Deadline for application for scholarships supported by TDR: July 15, 2015

Notification of acceptance sent to accepted candidates: August 7, 2015

Deadline for confirmation of acceptance by candidate: August 12, 2015

Students enroll at FHS/AUB: August 24, 2015

NOTE: Enrolment at FHS/AUB in response to this special TDR call for the 2015-2016 academic year is only possible for those who are awarded a scholarship supported by TDR.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Contact: GPHP@aub.edu.lb

Information about the graduate degrees, the competencies, the course requirements, and policies and procedures can be found at: http://www.aub.edu.lb/fhs/fhs_home/degrees_programs/Pages/graduate_program.aspx

Press releases about this scholarship scheme being offered at the American University of Beirut is available at the links below:

Press release (English) http://www.aub.edu.lb/communications/media/Documents/june-2015/tdr-scholarship-health-EN.pdf

Press release (Arabic) http://www.aub.edu.lb/communications/media/Documents/june-2015/tdr-scholarship-health-AR.pdf

AUB website story: http://www.aub.edu.lb/news/2015/Pages/tdr-scholarship-health.aspx