Fellowship Program
Gentleman Scholar Fellowship Program | Inaugural Round Opening November 2024
The Gentleman Scholar Fellowship Program is intended to support the ambitions of young persons in extraordinary pursuits of enterprise and education.
The awards are provided in the form of both financial support and mentorship, provided exclusively by Gentleman Scholar's distinguished Fellows.
Fellowship program inclusions:
- Three years of mentorship from existing Gentleman Scholar Fellows
- Financial support of up to $1,000 for academic and professional pursuits
- Award of Gentleman Scholar Fellowship upon completion of the program
Eligibility
This Fellowship Program is intended to build upon the access to support and mentorship beyond secondary school (high school). Accordingly, all applicants must have graduated or be due to graduate from a secondary school at the time of application submission.
Additionally, to be eligible to apply applicants must:
- Have been awarded an academic/sporting/co-curricular scholarship for their secondary school studies, or a part thereof,
- Currently be undertaking or be committed to commencing tertiary study (at a college/university) and/or have registered a business (as co-/owner) or company (as co-/director) or intend to register an entity as part of the proposed pursuit,
- Not be a previous recipient of a Gentleman Scholar Stipend or Scholarship,
- Be under 30 years of age, and
- Agree to provide documentation/evidence to support claims made in the application, if requested.
Selection Criteria
There are two streams for Fellowship Programs - Enterprise and Education. However, the selection criteria for each award is the same, detailed below:
- Evidence of applicant's exceptional character
- i.e. achievements (to be interpreted broadly), interests and ambitions
- Quality of pursuit
- i.e. demonstrable quality of the idea or concept, business case, course or training being proposed
- Feasibility of pursuit
- i.e. likelihood of completing pursuit in accordance with the Fellowship Program term (3 years) and amount ($1,000 USD)
- Anticipated positive impact of pursuit on the applicant and/or wider community
All applications will be assessed relative to each applicant's opportunity i.e. evidence of adversity and circumstantial limitations will be best factored into the selection process for each applicant. In this regard, applicants are to be assessed primarily on their potential to succeed, rather than solely their prior history of success.
Definitions
Enterprising Pursuit
An enterprising pursuit is a finite undertaking (with a defined beginning and end) that will result in a clear and tangible milestone for an idea or innovation, or delivery of a new product or service.
Examples of an Enterprising Pursuit:
- "To build a working prototype of my new idea/invention..." or "...create and present an investor handbook for my new product/service idea..."
- "To complete a draft of my book..." or "...host a business/product/service launch event"
Note: Regardless of input provided by Gentleman Scholar during the Scholarship Term, absolutely no claim to ownership, or part thereof, will be made by Gentleman Scholar, its owners or members (including Fellows). All proprietary information will be protected through simple and overarching agreements of non-disclosure. Gentleman Scholar explicitly waive all rights to any new innovation or concept, product or service that results from the Fellowship Program. This program is intended to support and nurture exceptional young people in independent pursuits of enterprise.
Educational Pursuit
An educational pursuit is a finite undertaking (with a defined beginning and end) that will result in the attainment of new knowledge or skills critical to the personal or professional ambitions of the applicant.
Examples of educational pursuits:
- "To complete a short-course in leadership..." or "...learn how to carry out routine maintenance for our family car"
- "To undertake an internship..." or "...learn a new skill through formal study/volunteering"
Selection Process
- Once applications have closed, each application is de-identified and coded to remove the applicant's name and location, and omit any references to identifiable characteristics (e.g. sex/gender, race, culture, religion, sexuality etc.). If identifying information is deeply embedded in the content of the biography/selection criteria sections and cannot be removed without affecting the context of the application, the application may be excluded from further consideration. Applicants are encouraged to consider this potential grounds for exclusion and do their best to omit such details at the time of application preparation.
- Successfully de-identified applications are presented to the panel.
- Shortlisted applicants are contacted directly and requested to provide a brief budget and schedule breakdown. This breakdown must include the costs of all items required to complete the pursuit, which must be less than or equal to the $1,000 scholarship amount (top-up stipends may be considered in certain circumstances) and scheduled to complete within the scholarship term of 3 years. Note: Failure to provide the budget and schedule breakdown within the allotted time will result in the application being forfeit and not progressed for consideration in the final round
- Successful applicants are contacted directly. Shortlisted applicants who are unsuccessful in the current round are also notified and, in certain circumstances, encouraged to re-apply.