School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) University of London-Saraswati Dalmia Scholarship, 2021

Saraswati Dalmia (1915—2010) was a scholar and a poet and belonged to the generation of women of the 30s who contributed to the struggle for independence in India. While she continued to do social service, in her poems she also encouraged and supported women to action with great intuition and intelligence. Her inspirational writing in Hindi evolved new forms in prose and poetry. After her marriage to the industrialist R.K. Dalmia she also established a trust for the promotion of research and writing. In her evolution as a significant writer, at a time when women were not encouraged to enter the public domain, her life acts as a beacon for the struggle to survive against tremendous odds.

This scholarship has been established with a donation by her daughter Yashodhara Dalmia, an art historian and an independent curator based in New Delhi. She has written widely on  art and her several publications include Amrita Sher-Gil – A Life (Penguin/Viking, 2006), which is a comprehensive account of the life of one of India’s first modern artists. Her book The Making of Modern Indian Art: The Progressives (Oxford University Press, 2001), is regarded as the definitive account of a seminal phase of Indian art history.

There is one Saraswati Dalmia Scholarship. The scholarship provides a contribution towards fees up to a maximum of £5,353. The scholarship is for one year only.

• To be eligible, an applicant must:

• Be Home/EU and overseas applicants
• Have an outstanding academic record, usually a 2.1 or first in their undergraduate degree and must normally possess or expect to be awarded a Merit or Distinction in their Master’s Degree
• Have an offer of admission by the time the scholarship selection process starts at SOAS
• Have demonstrated in the research proposal of their application for admission that their research is in the field of Indian art from 1500 up to the present day

You must follow two steps:

• STEP 1: You must apply for this scholarship via the on-line scholarship application form by 15:00 (UK local time) 09 April 2021.

1. If you are a new applicant to the MPhil/PhD programme (new admissions, starting in September 2021), please complete this on-line scholarship application.
2. If you are currently enrolled on your first year of the full-time (or part-time equivalent) MPhil/PhD at SOAS, please complete this on-line scholarship application.  Current SOAS MPhil/PhD students only: You will need two references, one should be from your supervisor. Please send the reference form to each of your referees. The reference form may be downloaded from the box at the top right

• STEP 2: In addition to the online scholarship application, new applicants to the MPhil/PhD programme (new admissions, starting in September 2021), must ALSO submit a COMPLETE on-line application for admission by 09 March 2021.

Applicants must meet the English language condition of their offer of admission to study at SOAS as soon as possible but no later than 1 June 2021. If your offer is conditional on English, please arrange your English test and ensure you meet the English requirements as soon as possible.