MA Publishing students win World Bank scholarships for 2008

Two students on the MA in Publishing programme have won scholarships to work at the World Bank in Washington for three months this summer.

In 2006, with the goal of broadening its talent pool, the Office of Diversity Programs and the Office of the Publisher at the World Bank in Washington created the World Bank Publishing Internship Prize, to be awarded annually to three students studying publishing. The winners each receive an award of $7,500, to cover travel and their living expenses during their three-month internship at the World Bank in Washington

The two students to win the awards are Daria Bierla from Poland and Phithizela Ngcobo from Zimbabwe. Before joining the MA programme at Oxford Brookes, Daria studied for an MA in Philology at Mickiewicz University, Poznan, Poland. Whilst at Oxford Brookes, she has done work experience at Macmillan Education, the Asylum Trust Charity, and the InOxford Group. Daria says about the award: ‘Winning the World Bank Internship Prize is a fantastic opportunity to work on publications aimed at a multicultural readership and gain an insight into the publishing processes of an international organization. It is a great first step into my career in publishing.’

Phithizela previously worked for ZPH Publishers and University of Zimbabwe Publications in Harare, and during his studies in Oxford has had a publishing work placement at Fahamu, the NGO in Oxford which supports the struggle for human rights and social justice in Africa. Phithizela says: ‘'Studying at one of the leading publishing centres in the world will always remain one of my greatest moments in life. There were many companies to do work placement in and around Oxford and opportunities to go to prestigious institutions like the World Bank, where I am going this summer. I would recommend Oxford Brookes to anyone who wants to get an edge in their publishing career.'

Angus Phillips, Director of the Oxford International Centre for Publishing Studies, said: ‘We are very excited for the winners, as it offers them a wonderful opportunity to develop their publishing skills in an international context. These awards were first developed following the internships at the World Bank undertaken by three students from the MA in Publishing in 2005. It is great that Oxford Brookes students have now won 5 out of the 9 places in the first three years of the Internship Prize.’

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Filed Under #Postgraduate | #Publishing