The Wellcome Trust– the global charitable foundation dedicated to achieving extraordinary improvements in human and animal health– is offering a full scholarship to enable a biomedical science PhD graduate to study at the NFTS.
The generous scholarship, which will cover both the student’s two year MA fees and living allowance, is open to PhD graduates with a biomedical background who want to study NFTS courses in Games Design and Development, Directing Fiction or Screenwriting.
The Wellcome Trust supports the brightest minds in biomedical research and those engaging the public with it. With this in mind, the NFTS scholarship aims to broaden the possibilities for working scientists to move into the entertainment industries, to better represent and reflect science in games and film.
Rachel Hillman, Broadcast and Games Manager at the Wellcome Trust said: “The Wellcome Trust is committed to exploring the ways in which biomedical science can become embedded in the cultural landscape. We believe that media has the power to shape culture, and should, therefore, reflect it. As part of this, we want to encourage people with scientific backgrounds to explore roles in making and shaping media and are delighted be able to offer support for those wishing to do so on the excellent courses at the NFTS.”
Nik Powell, NFTS Director said: “We are delighted that the Wellcome Trust has chosen to provide such a generous scholarship to enable a science graduate to study at our school. The NFTS produces films and games which use cutting edge technology and innovative approaches to tell stories that entertain and enthrall audiences.”
The NFTS has an established relationship with the Wellcome Trust which is to provide £25,000 funding for NFTS Games graduate Bojan Brbora and NFTS Screenwriting graduate Stefan Kaday to create an interactive game inspired by and to complement the Wellcome Collection’s forensics exhibition that opens in London, in October 2014.
In addition, the Wellcome Trust and BFI last year launched a Screenwriting Fellowship in association with Film4 which was presented in 2013 to NFTS graduate Director Clio Barnard, whose latest feature film The Selfish Giant won the Europa Cinemas award at the Cannes Film Festival and won Best Film at the 24th Stockholm International Film Festival.
Jon Weinbren, NFTS head of Games said: “We’ve had great successes on the Games course with applicants from diverse backgrounds including physics, architecture, literature, psychology and other fields of expertise. Biomedical science is another very exciting talent pool from which to draw experts who can help shape the future of Games.”
To APPLY for this amazing Scholarship contact Jon Wardle on email jwardle@nfts.co.uk
Pictured is Lagena species – Spike Walker, Wellcome Images
