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J.N. Tata Endowment for Indian Scholars

History: The founder of the Tata Group - Jamsetjee Nusserwanjee Tata established the scholarship program in 1892. Till date, the endowment has offered loans to more than 5,600 Indian scholars.

Programs: The J N Tata Endowment Scholarship supports Master's, Ph.D., and Post-doctoral fellowships across Law, Economics, Engineering, Management, IT and computing.

Eligibility: The program must be classified as a Graduate Program or Post-Graduate program (in Indian context).

The United States has consistently emerged as the preferred destination, followed by the United Kingdom, Europe, and select countries in the Asia-Pacific region.

Reapplication Criteria: The scholarship is also open for candidates who were not selected in the previous year or earlier for the loan scholarship. Those who were awarded but could not avail of the loan scholarship in the past may also reapply following the selection process.

Amount: The J N Tata Endowment Scholarship ranges between Rs.1,00,000 and Rs.10,00,000.

Number of Awards: 100

Criteria/Eligibility: To be eligible for the J N Tata Endowment Scholarship, candidates must meet a set of specific conditions and requirements, which include:
•    Must be an Indian citizen. 
•    Not be older than 45 years as of June 30, 2023.
•    Graduates of a recognized Indian University with a minimum of 60% marks on average in their undergraduate or post-graduate studies.
•    Can apply even if they do not have admission/offer letters at the time of application, provided they update their application status once they secure admission.
•    Applicants who intend to study postgraduate or undergraduate degrees in India are ineligible to apply.
•    Candidates who did not apply to the J N Tata Endowment at the start of their overseas studies may apply at the conclusion of the first year or the start of the second year, provided they have a minimum of 12 months remaining in their studies.
•    Candidates who want to study for diplomas of at least one year in length and whose entry-level prerequisite is higher secondary level are ineligible to apply.
•    Previous scholars with no committment may reapply.

Timeline of the Tata Endowment: The application window for J.N. Tata Endowment remains open from December/January to March every year.

Online Test: Applicants are required to take the Thinking Skills Assessment (TSA) similiar to the test conducted by the Cambridge Assessment Admissions testing in April after submitting the application.

Interview: Selected students are interviewed between the months of May and June and finally, the awards are declared in the first week of July.

Tests: As part of the application process, candidates are required to complete an online test structured along the lines of the Thinking Skills Assessment (TSA) – Cambridge Assessment Admissions testing. This assessment aims to evaluate the applicants' thinking abilities and suitability for the scholarship program. This is not a subject-specific test; it has some numerical questions but assumes no more than basic arithmetic knowledge and does not need complicated computations.

Essays: “The narrative should not exceed 800 words. The SOP should clearly convey the thinking behind your academic choice and the preferred/chosen University and how the same ties in with your academic qualifications, work experience if any and career goals/ plans; both short term as well as long term.”

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