Yong Chen is the recipient of the £5,000 Oxford China Simon Li Scholarship in Education, Languages and the Social Science of the Internet. Yong will be a 2nd year MPhil student in General Linguistics and Comparative Philology. She is at Lincoln College. She graduated from the University of Hong Kong with a BA in Linguistics. Yong’s research interests focus on the Chinese language, and the syntax and semantics of Chinese. Yong is from Quzhou City in Zhejiang Province.
| Q: | Why did you apply for the OUP China Simon Li Scholarship? What attracted you to the University of Oxford? |
| A: | The scholarship recognises academic talents from China. Having studied in mainland China and Hong Kong, I feel that I share many of the visions outlined in the scholarship description. It is a great honour to be awarded this scholarship from such a prestigious university, and it certainly helps with the financial situation in my family. I applied for the MPhil in General Linguistics programme at Oxford mostly because of its international reputation as a top-notch postgraduate programme for linguistic students, but also because there are many scholars that I wish to work with in the department. I have always found the city of Oxford a charming place, both for studying and for living. |
| Q: | What is the first thing that comes to mind when you think of Oxford? |
| A: | I think of the Oxford dictionaries that I have been using since little. While I was an undergraduate student at the University of Hong Kong, I had the opportunity to work-shadow at the dictionary division at OUP Hong Kong (with Mr Franky Lau); being a linguist myself, I have always associated Oxford with language, literature, and lexicography. |
| Q: | How does it feel to be the winner of the Oxford China Simon Li Scholarship? What do you think was the key factor to your winning the scholarship? |
| A: | I feel very honoured to be awarded the scholarship, and I am truly grateful for the generosity and kindness of Mr and Mrs Simon Li. As for the key factor to my winning, I'd like to think that the time and effort I spent on tailor-making the scholarship application certainly paid off, and my performance at the interview probably played a role as well. |
| Q: | What do you expect to learn at Oxford? What is your plan and goal? |
| A: | I am about to begin my second year as an MPhil student at Oxford, and in this upcoming academic year, I expect to continue exploring my interest in the broad areas of syntax and semantics, while keeping up with my ongoing psycholinguistic research projects. I also plan to make the most out of university's resources by establishing more connections in the academia and presenting my research findings to international audience. I am fully prepared and motivated to advance in the field of linguistics, so my goal is secure a PhD studentship upon the completion of my MPhil degree. |
The Scholarship was established by Oxford University Press (OUP) through the China Oxford Scholarship Fund in 2013, in commemoration of Mr Simon Li, the former Regional Director of Oxford University Press (China) (OUP China). Mr Li was immensely respected as a leader both within OUP China and in the Chinese publishing industry. The Scholarship pays tribute to Mr Li, to his significant contribution to the education community and publishing.
Sponsor: Oxford University Press (China)
Value: £5,000 for one year
Eligibility: Open to postgraduate students in any field of study who have an offer or conditional offer from the University of Oxford. Preference is given to those studying in the area of education. language, communications or the Internet.
Application period: 1 January – 15 April
How to apply
www.chinaoxford.org
For further information, please email your enquiry to info@chinaoxford.org
