Saltire Foundation marks its tenth anniversary with “biggest ever” scholarship programme

The Saltire Scholars Undergraduate Internship Programme, which kicked-off in 2007 with just six Scholars, gives undergraduate students with potential and ambition - most of whom may not otherwise have access to such opportunities - the chance to experience the working environment of highly successful firms or high growth entrepreneurial companies at home and abroad.

Sandy Kennedy, chief executive of Entrepreneurial Scotland, said: “The Scholarship Programme represents the opportunity of a lifetime for penultimate year undergraduate students studying at Scottish universities.

“Entrepreneurial Scotland regards The Saltire Scholarship Programme as vital in developing the next generation of entrepreneurial leaders who will help us to realise our ambition for Scotland to be the most entrepreneurial society in the world.

“The Programme enables talented students to increase their knowledge of the commercial world through challenging work experience. Instilling a global perspective in our Scholars is important in ensuring Scotland increases its standing on the world stage. As a result 70 per cent of our placements are outside Scotland and those in Scotland are with globally minded companies.”

Strathclyde University student Ross Henderson, a 2015 Saltire Scholar from Stirling, worked for QB3 in Silicon Valley this summer and said: “The Saltire Foundation Internship has been the best experience of my life. No other internship programme delivers internships of such standing, where the project you are working on is of crucial importance to the company, where you get to work across the world and where you get to work with some of the sharpest minds in industry.”

Mr Kennedy said: “The 2016 Programme is building on the success of last year when we sent 137 interns to five continents around the world. We are steadily broadening our reach to diversify the companies we work with – global corporates to entrepreneurial starts-ups across a variety of sectors.

“The growth of The Saltire Foundation’s Scholarship Programme over the last ten years has been remarkable and we plan to continue that growth rate over the coming decade in our aim to create a substantial cohort of home-grown business people who can help Scotland grow and develop into a significant player on the international stage.”

Deadline for applications is 18th of November at 1pm; applicants can apply through the website www.saltirefoundation.com/2016scholars.