Maharashtra Government Revamps Scholarship Scheme for Mangroves and Marine Biodiversity Studies

Pune, 15th January 2024: The Maharashtra State Government has introduced changes to its scholarship program aimed at supporting higher education abroad in the field of Mangroves and Marine Biodiversity. This decision follows the acknowledgement that the initial criteria were not met by applicants, leading to adjustments in the norms and rules of the scheme for the academic year 2023-24.

Administered through the Mangroves and Marine Biodiversity Conservation Foundation, the scholarship initiative is designed to foster ecological, multidisciplinary research for the preservation of coastal forest biodiversity in the state. The government has underscored its commitment to recognizing and supporting meritorious students by offering foreign scholarships for courses related to Mangrove forest and marine biodiversity in reputable international universities.

Initially, the criteria required admission to an institution ranked among the top 150 in Higher Education or QS World Ranking. However, due to non-compliance by applicants, the Maharashtra government has revised the norms. As per the updated guidelines, educational institutions must now be among the top 300 in the Times Higher Education or QS World Ranking.

The revised scholarship program continues to offer 25 scholarships for Master’s Degrees, Post Graduate Diplomas, and PhD courses. The range of eligible courses has been expanded to include Marine Science, Marine Environmental Science, Marine Policy, Marine Ecology, Mangrove Ecology, Oceanography, Marine Biology, Marine Fisheries, Marine Biotechnology, Marine Microbiology, Marine Biodiversity, Climate Change and Mangrove Biodiversity-Marine Biology, Carbon Sequestration in Mangrove-Marine Ecosystem, Marine, Coastal Management.

Despite extensive publicity through social media and two deadline extensions for applications, the government observed that not all applicants met the criteria. In response, the criteria and courses of the scheme were modified to ensure that deserving students could avail of the scholarship in the academic year 2023-24.

While adjustments have been made to the criteria and courses, other conditions of the scholarship scheme’s implementation remain unchanged.