Baku, Azerbaijan (ANTARA) -- Azerbaijan’s capital city, Baku, hosted the summit of Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) in late October, where it brought together heads of state and governments of half of the world population to address contemporary security challenges. But the diplomatic platform is not the only one where this Eurasian country is pushing the message of collaboration. Azerbaijan’s youngest university - ADA University - is offering international fellowship to increasing number of international undergraduate and graduate applicants with emphasis on those who ultimately have a strong commitment to serve a public cause in their own countries.

Signed in force by President Ilham Aliyev the educational grant programme funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), particularly for the citizens of the NAM countries, give an opportunity for young people to get a quality education at an emerging university in Baku offering academic degrees in English. A separate grant programme is designed for the citizens of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation countries. The grants bring overall 40 students on an annual basis to get a higher education with fully covered tuition, living and international travel expenses.

Founded in 2006 under Azerbaijan’s MFA ADA University includes four schools-Public and International Affairs, Business, Education, IT and Engineering. It is home to a community of closely collaborating 3,000 students, faculty and staff. The geography of international students spread through impressive 58 countries from Chile to Japan. Through curriculum built around a triad of rigorous major study, electives and general education, combined with experiential learning and a “semester abroad” exchange opportunities, ADA trains high impact graduates with ethics, who offer intellectual and innovative solutions.

“Particularly our programs in International Studies draw a lot of international applicants who are interested in learning policy making at the region where civilizations merge in a historically multicultural environment”, says Executive Vice-Rector Fariz Ismailzade: “Rich in natural resources, Azerbaijan is looking now into diversifying its economy through technology development. So, our IT and Engineering programs have a lot of experiential space to increase its pace with some of the degrees offered jointly by the leading world universities. International applicants choose to come even if they do not get a competitive fellowship- the price of education is quite affordable for the quality they get.”

Among international students who started their academic journey at ADA this year is Laura Boniface who traded her home island of Seychelles to the booming life in Baku: “Being the first one from my country to receive a fellowship here, I felt quite privileged. It is unbelievable how welcoming to internationals Azerbaijani culture is. I am looking forward to my years of study at ADA University.

The application period for International Fellowship program 2020 is now open at ada.edu.az with the deadline of February 14th.

Reporter: PR Wire
Editor: PR Wire
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