RWS, one of the world’s leading language and intellectual property support services providers, has launched a scholarship programme in collaboration with The University of Manchester to encourage students from lower income families to complete a degree in modern languages.
Named after RWS’s Chairman, Andrew Brode, the ‘RWS Brode Scholarship Programme’ will support a total of 25 undergraduate students who join the university between 2019 and 2021 from a state school.
“As one of the world’s largest language services providers, we see the growing demand for translation and interpreting services required to support our clients’ global business goals. At the same time, we are witnessing a national decline in the UK of students studying languages at university. As a large employer of language graduates, we believe we have a role to play in encouraging the next generation to consider a degree in languages and support those who may not have the financial means to complete their studies,” said Andrew Brode, Chairman of RWS.
As part of the scholarship programme, RWS staff, many of whom are linguists, will act as mentors to the students, offering support with their studies and guidance on future career opportunities. To offer students first-hand experience of working in the language services industry, RWS will also be running summer internships and work placements, with the potential for full-time graduate roles on completion of their studies.
“Beyond the financial contribution, the opportunity for students to gain first-hand work experience through this programme will be invaluable as they consider future career opportunities. We are all very excited for the programme to start and to welcome our first cohort of students,” said Karl Posso, Professor of Latin American Studies, Head of Modern Languages and Cultures, and Deputy Head of the School of Arts, Languages and Cultures.
Laila-Grace Gane, a current first-year Modern Languages – French and Italian student said when choosing which university to study at said: “I was immediately drawn to The University of Manchester after visiting on the Open Day. The University site is not only architecturally beautiful but there is a real atmosphere and buzz in the air. I had always known that I wanted to study French but decided that I would like to learn another language from the beginning and was drawn to Italian.
The Italian department really shone with a large body of teaching staff and a wide range of areas of study from the medieval to modern period. Since starting at Manchester, I have also enjoyed how the French department's programme is so well thought-out. For example, what we learn in Modern French Identity lectures has links to Cultural Studies lectures and enables students to gain a well-informed, wide knowledge of epochs in French life and culture."
About RWS
RWS is the world’s leading provider of intellectual property support services (patent translations, international patent filing solutions and searches), a market leader in life sciences translations and linguistic validation, a leading localization provider, and a high-level specialist language service provider in other technical areas, providing for the diverse needs of a blue-chip multinational client base spanning Europe, North America and Asia.
RWS is based in the UK, with offices across five continents, and is listed on AIM, the London Stock Exchange regulated market (RWS.L).
For further information, please visit:
www.rws.com.
About The University of Manchester
The University of Manchester, a member of the prestigious Russell Group, is the UK’s largest single-site university with 39,700 students and is consistently ranked among the world’s elite for graduate employability.
The University is also one of the country’s major research institutions, rated fifth in the UK in terms of ‘research power’ (REF 2014). World-class research is carried out across a diverse range of fields including cancer, advanced materials, addressing global inequalities, energy and industrial biotechnology. No fewer than 25 Nobel laureates have either worked or studied here.
It is the only UK university to have social responsibility among its core strategic objectives, with staff and students alike dedicated to making a positive difference in communities around the world. Manchester is ranked 38th in the world in the Academic Ranking of World Universities 2017 and 6th in the UK. The University had an annual income of almost £1 billion in 2015/16. Visit
www.manchester.ac.uk for further information.
With courses in 9 languages delivered from scratch or post-A-level, all benefitting from excellent teaching, native-speaker staff and cutting-edge facilities, students become fluent and accurate in one or more of these languages: Arabic, Chinese, French, Italian, Japanese, German, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish. But language study at the University of Manchester offers much more than just language expertise. Alongside language study, they will explore diverse aspects of the culture, society, history, politics and literature of the countries in which the chosen languages are spoken, enhancing communication skills and inter-cultural awareness (both highly valued by employers). Modern Languages provision at the University of Manchester is, in fact, amongst the broadest in the UK, featuring over 100 subject combinations. Placement options available at partner universities and in professional environments across the globe, a compulsory third year abroad gives undergraduates an unforgettable and invaluable personal and professional experience.
Contact
RWS: Carla Matthews, Interim Group Marketing and Communications Director |
carla.matthews@rws.com | 01753480200
The University of Manchester: Joe Paxton, Media Relations Officer |
joe.paxton@manchester.ac.uk | 01612758155