Becoming a Master of Geospatial Sciences: Scholarship Opportunities for Quality Education

MSc-programs

People say, that ability to make right decisions and to have a professional realization is a function of education. While formula for the function probably varies from person to person and remains a mystery to a certain degree, we can definitely influence the quality of the input – and that is, education.

We claim, that this world needs more high-quality GIS professionals. We also provide you informational tools to become one. Come on, wasn’t it your childhood dream? (If it wasn’t, please share this article with someone who wants to develop in the area of geomatics, but could never afford the fees).

Below you will find list of master degree scholarship opportunities in GIS field.

 

Advantages Only

So, what could be the reasons to go and study abroad? And why to proceed for postgraduate study instead of having a full-time job in the office?

Here are some pluses of venturing to pursue a Master of Science degree abroad:

You will see how education system works in another country
And in most cases it will be a positive experience.

Timely and international context
While your department most probably has key areas of expertise of international importance, in a university abroad you will learn how these technologies/methods are seen there, and you will pick up best from scientific advances of future host department. For example, you may have an opportunity to write your thesis within a university collaboration program with NASA.

You will learn languages
As English will become your primary language, its level will improve drastically (in case you’re not a native speaker). Most probably you will also learn local language and pick up some Italian, Turkish and Swahili (for example) from your international friends.

You will learn about great ideas
Most probably, you will have several (if not all) inspired lecturers, that emanate the feeling that they teach you something great that can change this world for better. They will explain you their view, and it’s inspiring!

Having a foreign degree record, your CV will become more sexy
Quality education can increase your chances of finding a job and salary offer.

You can continue academic career
If you are researcher by spirit, during the master you could actually realize that you would like to go on for a PhD. And collaborative university environment is a good way to get into research networks and learn about doctoral degree funding opportunities.

The list of advantages of the education abroad can be extended almost infinitely, but let’s stop here. Further, we will try to summarize opportunities of getting financed postgraduate education abroad in GIS and adjacent areas.

 

Opportunities

Below you can find references to master degree scholarships that are related to geospatial technologies. This is not an exhaustive list of scholarships available for MSc level study, but it is a good starting point for research!

We propose you to see opportunities for international students within the framework of Erasmus+, Swedish Institute, DAAD and Tubitak programs

Erasmus+ is a program financed by European Commission and provides opportunity for students to choose a program developed in collaboration between several universities. Within the program students complete first, second and third semesters in different host universities, having opportunity to experience learning environment in various countries. In the list below, such programs have names of several universities in their description. After successful completing of study, students receive joint diploma of all universities that run the program.

Swedish Institute is a program of Swedish government for financing international students. On the official page you will find funding opportunities for various target groups.

For those interested in postgraduate study in Germany, you can be interested by government program DAAD. We have listed here just few examples of master programs under DAAD, but feel free explore the official website – the list of programs is quite long.

Tubitak is a scholarship program from the government of Turkey, and it allows to study in Turkey’s universities of one’s choice. It’s worth mentioning, that some educational institutions there have a very high quality of education.

 

And finally, the MSc Programs list:

  1. Master of science in geospatial technologies
    Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster ( Münster, Germany), Universitat Jaume I Castellón (Castellón, Spain), Universidade Nova de Lisboa (Lisboa, Portugal)
    Program aims at preparing students for efficient use of new technologies for making sustainable decisions in the social and environmental areas.
  2. Master course on maritime spatial planning
    Università Iuav di Venezia (Venice, Italy), University of Seville (Seville, Spain), University of Azores (Ponta Delgada, Portugal)
    This program is aimed at enlightening main concepts and issues related to strategic planning and use of maritime space.
  3. Euromaster in urban studies
    Vrije Universiteit Brussel&l’Université libre de Bruxelles (Brussels, Belgium), Universität Wien (Vienna, Austria), Københavns Universitet (Copenhagen, Denmark), Universidad Complutense de Madrid (Madrid, Spain)
    Program offers european view at urbanism, which means that academic approach to viewing cities is given from ethnic perspective, as nowadays it’s not possible to deny that we are living in multicultural space.
  4. Master of science in cartography
    Technische Universität München (Munich, Germany), Vienna University of Technology (Vienna, Austria), Technische Universität Dresden (Dresden, Germany), University of Twente (Twente, Netherlands)
    Earth observation is combined with cartography and geographic information systems study.
  5. INFINITY, International fellowship in transdisciplinarity
    Universitade de Lisboa (Lisboa, Portugal)
    This program includes a network of universities that accept students for master’s degree in the areas of geography, geology, natural and social sciences, business and management, agricultural sciences and city planning
  6. Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation for Environmental Modelling and Management
    Lund University (Lund, Sweden), University of Twente (Twente, Netherlands), University of Southampton (Southampton, UK), University of Iceland (Reykjavik, Iceland), University of Warsaw (Warsaw, Poland)
    Main aim throughout the program is to research interplay between human and ecosystems.
  7. Geomatics master programme
    Lund University (Lund, Sweden)
    Managing spatial data for public and private organizations
  8. Master’s programme in transport and geoinformation technology
    KTH Royal University (Stockholm, Sweden)
    Analysis and planning of transportation systems.
  9. Master’s programme in geomatics with remote sensing and GIS
    Stockholm University (Stockholm, Sweden)
    Remote sensing, GIS, methods for modelling, explorative data analysis and visualisation.
  10. MSc in geodetic and geographic information technology
    Middle East Technical University (Ankara, Turkey)
    Program is based on intensive learning of spatial geodesy, remote sensing  and geographic information technologies.
  11. Photogrammetry and Geoinformatics
    Stuttgart University of Applied Sciences (Stuttgart, Germany)
    Processing of aerial imagery derived from diverse sources and learning GIS methodology for image processing and data modeling.
  12. Forest Sciences
    University of Freiburg (Freiburg, Germany)
    Program focuses on sustainable management and use of forested landscapes.

 

Rules of the Game

Specific requirements and list of documents to be submitted for scholarship application depend on the program, and we recommend to look the up on the official program websites: Erasmus+, Swedish Institute, DAAD and Tubitak. As a rule, to apply for scholarship one would need the following documents: English proficiency certificate (TOEFL or IELTS), reference letters, bachelor degree academic transcript, motivation letter.

Most of the programs accept applications for scholarship until January of the same calendar year, but for instance deadline for DAAD scholarship is in October of previous year.

So, now is the right time to get ready for applying for fall 2017 postgraduate study!

One should start preparing documents and for English proficiency test in advance, but there is a good motivation: so far, there is a relatively low competition for geospatial scholarships. Having properly prepared documents and a good motivation letter, you have all the chances to be accepted.

We hope, that this article helped you to get inspired about opportunities to study abroad. There is a whole summer to choose the program, prepare the application and get ready to become a high-skilled GIS professional.

Please share your thoughts in comment section and share this article with friends who may be interested in this information.

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2011 GEM MSc graduation, ITC, Enschede, the Netherlads