Getting a First and qualifying for one of the Vice-Chancellor’s 2020 Scholarships was a huge relief for De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) student Darpan Triboan. While he was doing his year placement as part of his Computer Science BSc degree, Darpan identified a distinct gap in his skillset and realised that the best way to plug the gap would be to do a master’s. Only there was a problem – funding.
Darpan said: “When I was working at Open GI during my year in industry, my role entailed a lot of contact with other departments and clients. I had to learn how to explain and describe things on a more basic level. While I think I did get better as the year went along, I can’t say I was very good at it!”
During the third year of his undergraduate degree, Darpan focused on developing his written and communication abilities as well as his interpersonal skills, but there was more to learn.
He said: “I wanted to expand my knowledge further. While I had saved some money and my parents offered to help, there was just no way I could afford to do a master’s.”
The Vice-Chancellor’s 2020 Scholarship offers a tuition fee discount of up to 50 per cent on selected full-time and part-time postgraduate courses. Based on academic achievement and merit, it is automatically applied to all home and EU graduates who achieve a 2:1 or higher and who are graduating or have graduated within the past two years. Individual faculties may also set their own eligibility criteria, terms and conditions.
Darpan added: “When I was told about the scholarship, my first reaction was one of relief! Then I got excited and, as I was confident that I would get the required 2:1, I even chose the master’s I would do: Software Engineering.”
The scholarship meant he could stay at DMU where he has enjoyed being part of a diverse society. Darpan chose to remain in halls: “DMU splits the blocks by year group so postgrad students are at the quieter end, which allows us to concentrate on our work.”
Posted on Monday 15 June 2015