Scholarships for LDC Students to the International Design Education Program 2023 are Now Open for Application (Deadline extended to 15 April 2023)

To apply, please follow the application guide and instructions. 

Gebze/Ningbo/Guangzhou - The 2023 application period to the 3^rd intake of the International Design Education (IDE) Program is open from 21 December 2022 to 15 April 2023, 11:00 am EST. 

The IDE Program is in its 3^rd edition after its great success in admissions and industrial design talents cultivation in the past 2 years. Eligible students from the 46 least developed countries (LDCs) who hold Bachelor’s degrees can submit an online application here with supporting documents. Upon the review process, the selected students will be granted scholarships. Students who successfully complete the Program will be conferred with a Master’s degree in Industrial Design Engineering by Zhejiang University.

The IDE Program is a cooperation program of the United Nations Technology Bank for the Least Developed Countries (UN Technology Bank), the World Eco-Design Conference (WEDC) and Zhejiang University, Ningbo (ZJU, Ningbo) launched in 2021 and funded by ZJUNB. In offering a 2.5 year long postgraduate program to 50 eligible students each year, ZJUNB provides an opportunity for LDC students with interdisciplinary backgrounds to specialize in industrial design while also nurturing problem solvers and entrepreneurs. The LDC students will study industrial design engineering at ZJUNB and promote innovation and knowledge transfer to their home countries. The program will support South-South cooperation to enhance science, technology and innovation in LDCs and add to the capacity to innovate, solve problems, boost national economic growth and achieve sustainable development.

In 2021 and 2022, ZJU received a total of 149 applications, from students of 21 LDCs. After a comprehensive review, 68 students were accepted and offered scholarships. The scholarships enabled these students from 19 LDCs to unleash their potential and creativity, bringing inspiration and cultural diversity to the IDE Program. For example, in January 2022, the first cohort of the IDE Program students have designed and presented a “Culture from afar-Charity Digital Arts Exhibition”, demonstrating the best of the achievements of the First IDE Program. The IDE program students will have opportunities to expose their designs in international events, such as the Fifth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries (LDC5), the Ecology Exhibition of the World Eco-Design Conference, and further harness the potential commercial opportunities.

“The IDE program is critical for building relevant capacities and enhancing the contribution of science, technology and innovation in the LDCs. The program offers a unique opportunity for youth from LDCs to develop strong technical skills in industrial design. It is also an important channel for promoting international knowledge exchange and linkages between universities and industries”, said the Acting Managing Director of the UN Technology Bank, Dr. Taffere Tesfachew. “Going forward, I wish to see even more partners joining efforts to expand access to programs such as this and build capacities in key areas of technical expertise for the sustainable development of all LDCs”. 

“Since the first launch of the program, ZJUNB has enrolled a lot of outstanding students, who are now able to overcome the design obstacles and accomplish their own designs, by combining their own culture and the designing skills they learned in the program.” Said the Director of ZJUNB, Professor Han Gaorong. “I believe that under the guidance of Zhejiang University's motto of “Seeking Truth, Pursuing Innovation”, the program will cultivate batches of high-level design and innovation talents, who can champion sustainable development through their work.”

“We initiated the IDE Program as we foresee that the sustainability for a society will be driven by technology and civilization, and design plays a key role. The Program will teach students to master the abilities of innovation, problem solving and technology commercialization.” explained the President of the WEDC, Professor Ying Fangtian.  “The Program will improve the LDCs on capacity building and competitiveness in science, technology and innovation, accelerating the sustainable development for the LDCs.

In the future, both the UN Technology Bank and WEDC will continue to work closely for the development of science, technology and innovation for the LDCs and will keep strengthening their strategic partnership to outreach more stakeholders of the LDCs and beyond. The program will continue to improve its scope of education to fit in the educational context of the LDCs.

Please find the application guide and instructions below:  

• Application Guide for IDE Master’s Degree Program 2023
• Instruction for application of IDE program and scholarship 2023
• IDE Program application Q&A

Download the press release PDF

About United Nations Technology Bank for the Least Developed Countries (UN Technology Bank)

The UN Technology Bank is a global organization, dedicated to enhancing the contribution of science, technology and innovation for sustainable development in the world’s 46 least developed countries. Least developed countries are low-income countries confronting severe structural impediments to sustainable development. They are highly vulnerable to economic and environmental shocks and have low levels of human assets.

The UN Technology Bank supports national and regional technological efforts in least developed countries, reinforcing partnerships across sectors and helping nations identify and use appropriate technologies to transform their economies and improve livelihoods.

Website: http://www.un.org/technologybank

Media Contact: Ms. Roanna Jansen roanna.jansen@un.org

About World Eco-Design Conference (WEDC)

The World Eco-Design Conference (WEDC) is an industrial, academic and world-wide non-governmental organization voluntarily formed by enterprises, institutions, social organizations and workers all over the world who are committed to promoting sustainable development.

WEDC aims to promote the integration and sustainable development of design, ecology and society on a global scale, strengthen exchanges and cooperation on ecological design among countries and regions, forge a new model of low-carbon city, build an innovative ecosystem for eco-design, and make further contributions to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals of the UN 2030 Agenda.

The World Eco-Design Conference has United Nations Special Consultative Status.

Website: www.wedo2018.com.cn/

About Zhejiang University (ZJU)

Zhejiang University (ZJU) ranks among the top 3 on Chinese mainland and the top 50 in the QS World University Rankings. It is also one of the oldest Chinese universities, its roots can be traced back to 1897. It has 7 faculties and 39 schools, partnering with more than 200 institutions from more than 30 countries worldwide.

Ningbo Innovation Center, Zhejiang University (ZJUNB) was built with strong support from Ningbo Municipal People’s Government in 2018 focusing on scientific research, achievements transformation and postgraduate education. ZJU-ISD is an international school of the Center specializing in innovation driven design, featuring scientific research, internationalization and interdisciplinarity by relying on ZJU’s high-quality educational resources.

Website: www.zju.edu.cn/, http://nb.zju.edu.cn/, http://isd.zju.edu.cn/