QS Academic Excellence Scholarship: 2018 Winner

We're pleased to announce that the winner of this year’s QS Academic Excellence Scholarship is Yan Guo.

The scholarship, offered every year, is worth US$10,000 and provides support to a student commencing a master’s or PhD program anywhere in the world. Applicants are assessed based on their academic achievements to date, as well as the potential they show to make a contribution within academia or another area.

Yan will study an MSc in Taxonomy, Biodiversity and Evolution at Imperial College London, starting in September, having previously studied Food Science at China’s Northwestern A&F University.

She says her bachelor’s degree gave her a good familiarity of the best food improving techniques, but new problems have aroused her attention - “Human activities, especially the conversion and degradation of habitats are causing global biodiversity declines.”

Yan’s master’s degree is offered in collaboration with the Natural History Museum, which was a powerful motivation in choosing the program, as these two highly prestigious institutions are working in collaboration to find possible solutions to balance global food shortage and ecology protection by 2050.

She also found the course’s curriculum a very good match to her interests, and hopes that the degree will give her the critical analysis ability to solve practical research issues.  She says: “I will have a chance to touch upon world-leading projects such as balancing food production with biodiversity persistence using PREDICTS (Projecting Responses of Ecological Diversity in Changing Terrestrial Systems.”

So what are Yan’s next steps after she finishes her degree? "After graduation, I will look for research opportunities in world leading research institutions like Imperial College London. My life-long career will be devoted to developing agricultural benefits, protecting the biodiversity of the environment and leading to the poverty reduction of farmers at the same time.”

Advice for other applicants

Yan says winning the QS Academic Excellence Scholarship has been a relief, as it will cover nearly one third of her tuition fees, meaning she can spend more time on study and research. To other students applying for students, she has this advice:

"Plan ahead, not only when you are searching for the scholarships, but also when applying for a university and determining your career path. Always do the best in your study/work so when the opportunity comes, you can grasp it easily. If a girl like me from a small village can make it, you can make it too. Remember never to give up when you are about to lose hope.

"Thank you QS for providing such excellent scholarships for people who are chasing their dreams. There are many other wonderful scholarships for students from different backgrounds.”