Ashoka University on Jan 23 announced that the second round of applications for the Young India Fellowship (YIF) Class of 2025 are now open. Instituted in 2011, the flagship programme offers a year-long residential postgraduate diploma in Liberal Studies. Through a multidisciplinary and multidimensional curriculum, it trains 100 exceptional individuals from India and abroad to become effective leaders and 21st change makers. Over the years, it has opened the gateway to a wide array of fields for its fellows, including the corporate sector, entrepreneurship, higher education, social impact initiatives, and professional role transition. The deadline to apply is 4th March 2024.
To ensure that education is accessible to individuals from all walks of life, the university offers need-based financial aid, including a fee waiver up to 100%, including residence and meals. Furthermore, the fellowship also offers the Chancellor’s Merit Scholarship to 10 exceptional candidates, who have excelled in more than one area of engagement and demonstrated leadership qualities, covering their entire tuition fee, including residence and meals. Notably, 68% fellows in the Class of 2024 had received financial aid.
With a focus on ‘how to think’ instead of ‘what to think’, a YIF fellow studies 20 courses during the programme, taught by distinguished academics and domain experts, including in areas such as data, statistics, public policy, international relations, economics, philosophy, psychology, communication, design thinking, art appreciation and gender studies. The fellowship also offers an Experiential Learning Module (ELM), where fellows work in groups on real-world projects. Further, the fellows undergo the Critical Writing Programme, focused on development of their reading, writing and thinking skills.
The distinguished list of course instructors includes K VijayRaghavan (former Principal Scientific Advisor to the Prime Minister of India), Arun Kumar Singh (former Indian Ambassador to the United States), Sanjeev Bikchandani (Founder of naukri.com and Co-founder, Ashoka University), Rudrangshu Mukherjee (noted historian and Chancellor, Ashoka University), Pramath Raj Sinha (Founding Dean of ISB Hyderabad and Chairperson of Board of Trustees, Ashoka University), among others.
YIF has also introduced the Crossover Series, where fellows experience an immersive day-long engagement with stalwarts from a variety of fields. In the past, this has included Shyam Saran (former Foreign Secretary of India), Amit Chandra (Chairperson, Bain Capital), Saurabh Dwivedi (Editor, The Lallantop), to name a few. Further, has introduced an Alumni-in-Residence Programme, enabling mentorship from noted YIF alumni. In addition, the Class of 2025 will also be able to opt for courses in other Ashoka University centres, such as Centres for Entrepreneurship.
Speaking about the fellowship, Aniha Brar, Dean of The Young India Fellowship and Vice Chancellor’s Office, said, “The YIF Class of 2024 welcomed 12 chancellor’s merit scholars, a newly instituted scholarship covering the tuition and residence fee, awarded to exceptional candidates in addition to need-based financial aid. Based on the success of the new initiatives, ‘YIF Crossover Series’ and ‘Alumni-in-Residence’, were redesigned to ensure an even greater experience for upcoming batches. The YIF class of 2025 will be able to take cross-listed courses taught at Ashoka Centres and choose from a more comprehensive selection of elective courses.”
Candidates of all age groups, who have received a recognisable degree in any discipline by July 2024 or earlier (including final-year students), are eligible to apply. For more information, visit yif.ashoka.edu.in.
