The new scheme is part of the Scottish Government's continuing support for the 'brightest and best' Indian students to come and study in Scotland.

The scheme assists overseas students to undertake a 12 month postgraduate Masters level courses in Scotland. The awards, each worth 143,000 rupees (£2000 GBP) are funded by the Scottish Government and matched by contributions from Scottish universities and higher education institutions.

The scheme also highlights the academic excellence of Scottish universities. Eighty six per cent of academic research in Scottish institutions has been judged to be internationally excellent, according to the latest independent and globally-regarded Research Assessment Exercise.

Announcing the scheme, Fiona Hyslop, Scotland’s Cabinet Secretary for Education, said: “We want to create a self-confident outward looking nation and as part of that we want to encourage the brightest and the best students to come and study here. This will help improve the cultural experience of students from home and abroad and play an important part in growing our economy and helping it recover from the current economic downturn.

“This investment underlines our commitment to attracting students from India and building relationships with that country in the longer term. It will also help us achieve our overall vision of a Smarter Scotland - with even better connections to the rest of the world.”

The ‘Scotland’s Saltire Scholarships 2009’ is funded by the Scottish Government and managed by British Council Scotland in partnership with the higher education sector in Scotland.

Applications should be made direct to institutions. The scheme opened on 1 March 2009 and will close on 12 June 2009.

For more information on application procedures and eligibility criteria, visit the website at www.scotlandscholarship.com

Enquiries can be addressed to chennai.scholarship@in.britishcouncil.org