Persia Educational Foundation established the Ansari Scholarship in remembrance of its Founder, Abdolreza Ansari, who believed investing in youth education would further global prosperity. This philosophy and his illustrious career inspired the establishment of the Persia Educational Foundation, to support and empower Iranian youth and young professionals in the UK and beyond.

Each year, an independent panel selects the recipient of the Persia Ansari Scholarship from among eligible applicants. The results are announced on or around 10 December, to help mark Human Rights Day and Mr. Ansari’s anniversary.

This year the panel chose Elaheh Eslami and Atoosa Khatiri. Elaheh is a Ph.D. student at Central European University examining the dynamics of the Iranian women’s movement. She is involved with academic projects designed to collect and preserve social media and visual resources. She is also spearheading an academic conference on ‘Social Media and Women’s Empowerment in the Global South’. Atoosa is a Ph.D. student studying justice and human rights in counter-terrorism at York Law School. She has a rich body of experience across civil, immigration, and asylum law as a volunteer. She is also active as a serial social entrepreneur assisting vulnerable populations to access justice. She works closely with individuals affected by conflict and injustice and plans to contribute to greater understanding and effective decision-making and policy.

Prior to the trustees, Reza and Nazenin Ansari, presenting the awards to the inaugural recipients, Professors Roja Fazaeli and Cameran Ashraf delivered powerful remarks regarding the current uprising in Iran inspired by women’s rights, and the future of human rights in Iran and around the globe. The Ansari scholarship is GBP 1500. Eligible applicants for the 2023-2024 academic year are required to submit their application to Persia Educational Foundation by 17 November 2023. For more information on the scholarship please visit Abdolreza Ansari Scholarship.

A UK-registered charity, Persia Educational Foundation provides educational support to Iranians worldwide who have the ambition to give back to their communities through the pursuit of public service. Its mission is to support Iranians worldwide who have the ambition to give back to their communities through the pursuit of public service.

To support Persia and scholarships for Iranian students please visit our Donate page or email info@persia.education.

The UK-based charity established this unique scholarship to continue the legacy of Professor Mirzakhani, one of the younger accomplished Iranian women, whose life was dedicated to breaking new grounds.

This year, the Scholarship was awarded to Ayda Afshar, a young but outstanding PhD candidate with several academic publications focussed on biomedical engineering. Advancing research on effective release mechanism for wound healing, she is exploring the latest on bone tissue regeneration in a multidisciplinary environment in order to optimise efficacy and impact on human health and wellbeing. She carries out this work through the UCL Mechanical Engineering Department Edirisinghe Biomaterials Processing Laboratory.

An award winner of the UCL PhD Mechanical Engineering Conference in 2021, her laboratory-based reports and research help shine a new light on bone mineral density with a particular focus on hip implants. The impact of her work extends well beyond boundaries of the UK, leading to collaborations with a range of important institutions in the United States, the Gulf countries and continental Europe.

In addition to her academic work, Ms Afshar is a community health volunteer and a scientific writer. Persia is proud to welcome this outstanding Iranian-descent scientist to its family of Mirzakhani scholars, and looks forward to her continued success during the years ahead.

Persia Educational Foundation established the Persia Mirzakhani Scholarship in remembrance of the first woman, an Iranian, to win the prestigious Fields Medal in mathematics, the late Stanford Professor, Dr. Maryam Mirzakhani. Each year, an independent panel selects the recipient of the Persia Mirzakhani Scholarship from among eligible applicants. The results are announced on 12 May, marking the anniversary of the birth of Professor Mirzakhani (12 May 1977 – 14 July 2017). The scholarship is designed to empower Iranian-descent women studying sciences, technology, engineering or mathematics at UK’s top research university, UCL.

In addition to Persia Mirzakhani scholarship, the foundation offers the Abdolreza Ansari Scholarship. The scholarship is designed to support the education of students of Iranian descent, of any age or citizenship, enrolled in a Master or Doctorate programme in human rights or public service at an internationally accredited university in the UK or beyond.

Persia Educational Foundation is a non-governmental UK-registered charity. Its mission is to provide scholarships and educational opportunities to Iranian descent students throughout the UK. To support more students, please contribute to Persia’s Scholarship Scheme. Please note 100% of your donations plus the additional 25% Gift Aid are awarded to eligible students studying at UK universities. In this manner, for every Pound of your donation, £1.25 are donated to an Iranian descent student. 

To find out more and arrange contributions, please email us at: info@persia.education.

The webinar included distinguished panellists including well-known journalist, Amir Taheri, Persia Trustee, Nazenin Ansari, neuroscientist and human rights advocate, Mahmood Amiri-Moghaddam, and award-winning Oxford student, Sam Loni. The panel was moderated by One Young World Director, Safoora Biglari.

Panellists highlighted the human right to education encapsulated in Mr Ansari’s fervent belief that investing in youth education would further global prosperity. This belief stemmed from his own experiences as an American educated Iranian with an outstanding record of service to Iran and the world. Mr Ansari made significant contributions to the modernisation of Iran as Treasurer General, Minister of Labour and Social Affairs, Minister of the Interior, and Managing Director of the Imperial Organisation for Social Services. Following a life dedicated to public service and philanthropy in his homeland, Mr Ansari established the Persia Educational Foundation in London, UK, to support Iranian descent students studying abroad. The Facebook Live webinar is available on Persia’s YouTube channel.

In addition to the Ansari Scholarship, the Foundation offers the Persia Mirzakhani Scholarship for Women in STEM, now in its fifth year. To expand access to its education scholarships, Persia is now accepting applications for the coming academic year. More information on Persia’s scholarships and application forms is available on its website at: www.persia.education

Persia Educational Foundation is a UK-registered charity. It provides educational support to Iranians with an ambition to give back to their communities through the pursuit of public service. Persia is gift aid registered and welcomes 100% of your donations to its scholarship fund at https://www.persia.education/donate/. 

The above was published on Kayhan London site.