Announcement of MSc and PhD fellowship recipients

The evaluation of the applications received from former UNU Fellows for UNU-GTP Fellowships for MSc and PhD studies in Iceland has now been done.  There were 20 valid applications for MSc studies and 6 for the PhD studies, which shows the great interest for geothermal studies in Iceland.

Due to budget strains the number of Fellowships that the UNU-GTP could award this year was 5 full MSc Fellowships and 1 PhD Fellowship in 2015.

The decision on whom to award the MSc and PhD Fellowships was very tough, with many excellent applications sent in.  The final results were influenced by various factors.  The main selection criteria are based on the individual’s performance during their 6 month training in Iceland (i.e. overall progress, test results, final report, supervisor’s recommendation etc.); the needs for higher training in the home country; availability in the chosen field of study at UI or RU; gender balance, among other factors. 

The selected ones, who have been offered a UNU-GTP fellowship to start their studies in late August 2015 are the following:

MSc Fellowship:

Jack Kiruja, Kenya for Geothermal Engineering
Eric Rop, Kenya for Reservoir Engineering
Moneer Fathel Abdallah Alnethary, Yemen, Geothermal Geology
Daniel Gustavo Villaroel Camacho, Bolivia, Chemistry
Lilian Okwiri, Kenya, Drilling Engineering

PhD Fellowship:

Charles Muturia Lichoro, Kenya, Geophysical Exploration
Farah Omar Farah, Djnibouti, Drilling Engineering (awarded in 2014, to start in 2015)

Finally, we would like to draw attention to the fact that each application is valid for two consecutive years, i.e. the applications submitted for 2015 will also be considered in 2016, while applications submitted in 2014 are no longer valid, and need to be renewed if they are to be reconsidered.