£7,000 award goes global

Norman Foster

Norman Foster

More than 260 international architecture schools have been invited to join 93 institutions overseen by the RIBA in the fray for an annual travel scholarship funded by Norman Foster.

The award – currently £7,000 – is designed to fund a single architecture student on an international journey of discovery, and was inspired by a prize that 82-year-old Foster received as a student that allowed him to visit places in Europe he had previously only read about.

This year’s scholarship is now open for applications, limited to one per architecture school, which judges will assess on the basis of their “potential for outstanding achievement and original thinking on issues relating to the survival and the future of our cities and towns”. 

University of Lincoln student Chloe Loader won the 2017 scholarship with a proposal for sustainable masterplanning in emerging cities that required visits to Curitiba, Brazil, Mumbai in India and Jakarta in Indonesia.

Chloe Loader

Chloe Loader, who won the 2017 travelling scholarship

Previous winning proposals have included research on climate change mitigation measures, pro-cycling policies, slum communities and sanitation.

RIBA president Ben Derbyshire, who will sit on the scholarship judging panel along with Foster and others, said the scheme was a “unique chance” for architecture students to see buildings in their context.

“This year we are making the scholarship truly global by inviting 264 schools of architecture to join the 93 institutions validated by the RIBA to nominate their talented students,” he said.

“I would strongly encourage students to apply for this exciting opportunity.”

The deadline for submissions is 5pm on April 20.