The Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc) has announced a new scholarship open to European architecture students that will fully cover tuition for its two-year Master of Architecture program. Dubbed the European Union 2016 scholarship, it will provide young residents of the European Union with the opportunity to study at SCI-Arc’s Downtown Los Angeles campus.

Graduate Program Chair Elena Manferdini received an undergraduate degree in her native Italy before studying architecture at UCLA and is now leading this scholarship program. “I know firsthand how a scholarship and the trust of an institution can change someone’s career,” said Manferdini in a SCI-Arc press release. “At 22, I came to Los Angeles on a scholarship to pursue a Master of Architecture degree. Twenty years later, I have built a career in this country; now, as Graduate Chair of one of the most prestigious architectural schools in the US, I am proud to be able to give back and offer the same opportunity to another talented young architect to realize his or her dreams by receiving a full tuition scholarship to study at SCI-Arc.”

SCI-Arc has a large international community, with over half its students hailing from one of 46 different countries. According to SCI-Arc director Hernan Diaz Alonso, “Europe has always had and continues to have a critical and decisive role in how architecture is shaped.” According to SCI-Arc, this scholarship will help it grow its international presence and enable a meeting of the minds between Europe and US based architecture students.

In order to be eligible for the European Union 2016 scholarship, students must provide proof of citizenship of any of the European Union’s 28 member countries as well as an architecture degree equivalent to a United States undergraduate degree. The deadline for submission will be June 30, 2016. More information about the scholarship can be found at the SCI-Arc website.