Queen Margaret University is offering a new scholarship to support the Syrian refugees.

The scholarship will cover all academic fees to help a Syrian student study full-time or part-time at the Musselburgh institute.

East Lothian Courier: The university said the move was its way of responding to the ongoing refugee crisis and helping support Syrians fleeing their civil war.

The student chosen to receive the scholarship will be offered the chance to join a Masters programme within the Institute for Global Health and Development (IGHD).

Available from September 2016, the scholarship also includes a £1,000 contribution towards living costs and a waiver of fees for the university's four-week English Language pre-sessional programme.

The move comes after the UK Government announced it would allow 20,000 Syrian refugees to settle in the country over the next five years. 

East Lothian Council has committed to providing homes for seven Syrian refugee families a year for the next five years.

The first two families have already arrived and settled in the Musselburgh area.

Professor Alastair Ager, director for IGHD at the university, said: “We’re currently experiencing Europe’s greatest humanitarian crisis of modern times. Many of the Syrian refugees are people whose higher education has been cut short. Although their immediate need is to seek safety, they’re also wishing to rebuild their lives, and eventually their own country, through education.

“As part of our long-standing commitment to addressing health care challenges and education in areas of conflict, poverty and vulnerability across the globe, we’re pleased to be offering this new scholarship to Syrian refugees. We hope it goes some way to helping them identify how to rebuild their nation’s future.”

The successful student applicant for the QMU Syrian Refugee Scholarship must be a Syrian national who has been afforded Humanitarian Protection status in the UK and who hold an offer of admission for one of QMU’s eligible IGHD programmes. Applicants must have completed an undergraduate degree (or equivalent) to be eligible to apply.

To find out more about the new QMU Syrian Refugee Scholarship and to apply, visit www.qmu.ac.uk, contact the Admissions team at QMU on 0131 474 0000 or E: admissions@qmu.ac.uk, indicating intention to be considered for the QMU Syrian Refugee Scholarship.

Applications must be in by July 31 and the successful candidate will be informed by August 5.