Entrepreneurial Scotland’s 2016 Saltire scholars take off

142 students will embark on once-in-a-lifetime internships across the world including: China, Hong Kong, India, Singapore, Dubai, Switzerland, USA, Malawi, Ghana, Zambia, England and Scotland.

This year 59 host companies will host scholars in key sectors including: education, energy, engineering, fashion, financial services, food & drink, life sciences, manufacturing, technology transport and a number of not for profit organisations. Saltire Scholarships provide Scotland’s most talented prospects with the opportunity to work with leading organisations and work alongside global thought leaders and entrepreneurs.

Host company highlights include: pharma giant, GSK, taking 12 interns – bringing their total number of Saltire Scholars to an impressive overall total of 50 students; Calvin Klein and Michael Kors are taking interns in New York; Jabil will be taking 12 interns across five of their sites worldwide; and Classrooms for Malawi, led by a previous Saltire Fellow, will take their first intern who will spend time in both Scotland and Malawi.

The internship programme continues to display year on year growth with the total number of applicants for 2016 setting a new record as the of 142 entrants this year increased from the 137 in 2015. The 2016 cohort has students representing all 17 of Scotland’s Universities - 52 per cent female and 48 per cent male.

Saltire Scholarships are open to undergraduate students from Scottish Universities in their penultimate year of study and are fully funded through supporters and donors of the Saltire Foundation charity which aims to the next generation of business leaders.

The Saltire Foundation is the philanthropic arm of Entrepreneurial Scotland. Saltire Scholars are automatically enrolled into Entrepreneurial Scotland’s Future Leaders, network providing world class networking opportunities, mentoring and regular events programme that encourage an entrepreneurial mind-set and behaviours.

Sandy Kennedy, chief executive of Entrepreneurial Scotland and the Saltire Foundation, said: “As part of Entrepreneurial Scotland, the Saltire Scholar programme continues to keep growing and keeps breaking records year on year. From entrepreneurial start-ups based in Silicon Valley to global corporates in Singapore, there is no other internship programme that identifies, connects and invests in Scotland’s potential.”

Eilidh Dillon, operations support manager at GSK, said: “I host Saltire interns in GSK as they inject a level of energy into the business that can’t be matched and ultimately, the interns are a great source of future talent. Their passion to develop themselves and enthusiasm to learn is why we are proud to host our 50th Scholar this year and why so many of the interns now have permanent jobs in GSK.”