Among the newer additions to QS’s range of postgraduate scholarships, this US$2,000 award is exclusively available to those who participate in Connect Masters 1-2-1, a free service which allows prospective students to meet university representatives individually, prior to the opening of the main QS World Grad School Tour event. This provides an opportunity for selected applicants to engage in more in-depth discussions with admissions directors from schools they’re interested in. So far the initiative has focused on those applying for master’s degrees in the “FAME” field (finance, accounting, management and economics), with law soon to be added.
This year’s winner of the Connect Masters 1-2-1 postgraduate scholarship is Emil Gazizyanov, from Russia, who attended the Connect event at the QS World Grad School Tour in Moscow. Emil completed his Bachelor of Economics at Moscow’s National Research University – Higher School of Economics (HSE) in 2013, including a year as an exchange student at Shenyang Normal University in China. Having gone on to work as a financial analyst in transaction advisory services at Ernst & Young, following on from internships at Credit Suisse and Lukoil Overseas, he’s now ready to continue his education with a Masters in Finance.
Finding the perfect Masters in Finance
Participating in Connect Masters 1-2-1 gave Emil the chance to meet Lindsay Hillcoat, associate director of international relations at the Schulich School of Business, part of York University in Toronto, Canada. Hillcoat also introduced Emil to a local alumnus who had previously attended the school, and it wasn’t long before he knew he’d found the “ideal place” for his Masters in Finance. After several months of preparation, exams, interviews and sleepless nights, Emil received the news he’d been waiting for: that final “yes”. Now, he’s “impatiently awaiting” the day when he can depart to Canada to start this new adventure.
Emil’s impatience is all the stronger as he already has clear plans for his career after completion of his Masters in Finance. In the short-term, he’d like to find a job specializing in infrastructure. In the longer term, his ambition is to establish an international advisory firm, dealing with infrastructure projects in Russia, Canada and China – the three countries in which he will have worked and studied.
Plans for a career in energy infrastructure
More specifically, Emil hopes to use his Masters in Finance to pursue a career in energy infrastructure, contributing to improving the infrastructure and financing of renewable energy projects. This is a sector he became interested in during his year at Shenyang Normal University, when he took the opportunity to participate in an excursion to visit a solar energy plant on the outskirts of the city. He became fascinated by the technology involved – but even more so by the underlying economics.
His dissertation research provided an opportunity to explore some of the constraints currently faced by those attempting to secure financing for renewable energy projects in countries such as Russia and China, even those undertaken by major corporations. He’s sure that progress in this area will have far-reaching effects. “I am convinced that renewable energy sources are crucial for sustainable development, in both developed and developing nations. Nowadays, there are few high profile specialists in that sphere in Russia, especially in terms of operational work and deal financing. That’s why I would like to bring Canadian experience to my home country via a joint Canada-Russia-China advisory firm.”
Continuing the theme of ‘giving back’ which unites many of this year’s QS postgraduate scholarship winners, Emil’s second long-term ambition is to establish a fund dedicated to providing education grants for orphaned children. This follows his voluntary work with the charity Dobraya Rossiya, which seeks to improve the lives and prospects of children living in orphanages.
