QS Leadership Scholarship: 2018 Winner

Included in the range of scholarships offered by QS is the Leadership Scholarship, which awards US$10,000 to a student demonstrating strong leadership skills. We’re pleased to announce that this year’s winner is Burkinabé student Clara Salame.

Clara will now study a PhD in Nutritional Sciences at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in the US, having previously studied her undergraduate degree in Nutrition and Dietetics at the American University of Beirut in Lebanon. This was an extremely competitive program, internationally accredited by the US’ Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, in which only 12 students were eligible to pass the final examination, meaning Clara had to work extremely hard in order to graduate as an internationally registered dietitian.

Clara then studied a master’s degree in Clinical and Public Health Nutrition at University College London (UCL) in the UK, and says this is where she discovered her passion for research, as she feels rewarded by making a profound impact in scientific evidence.

This passion for research has spurred Clara on to pursue a PhD, as she says: “Nutrition is a passionate, fast-growing field in which a wide range of knowledge still needs to be discovered and unraveled. It is constantly evolving, and I want to contribute to it and be part of the evolution. Therefore, I decided to further my scientific career by obtaining a PhD to be at the cutting edge of scientific discovery.”

Clara was attracted to studying abroad in the US as she felt that the funding and technical resources in Lebanon were quite limited, and she also felt that the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign offers one of the country’s best graduate nutrition programs.

Advice for other applicants

Clara would firstly definitely recommend attending the QS World Grad School Tour “to every student who’s not sure of what they want to do later on, and even to those who already know what they’d like to do, as it would help them make a choice or get exposed to even more options.” She says her own experience of attending the fair helped her to learn about the many options available in grad school, and what the requirements are for different universities.

She also advises: “Do not worry if you do not have everything figured out, be perseverant and keep your options open. Keep looking for what you want, and if you work hard, a lot of opportunities will come your way.”