(From left) Malefa Tselanyane, David Fick, Lara Davison and Bongiwe Mapasa are four of the five postgraduates who have received scholarships from the UCT Foundation in Canada.

Five postgraduate students recently pocketed handsome scholarships towards their studies, courtesy of UCT alumni resident and working in Canada.

David Fick (master's in drama), Lara Davison (master's in law), Bongiwe Mapasa (master's in music), Malefa Tselanyane (doctoral studies in pharmacology) and Mark Uys (master's in music) were awarded scholarships of R12 000 each, donated by the UCT Foundation in Toronto. The foundation is made up of UCT alumni, as well as Canadian sponsors and businesses.

The scholarships spring from meetings Vice-Chancellor Prof Njabulo Ndebele and Deputy Vice-Chancellor Prof Martin Hall had with alumni in Canada last year. "Rather than contribute to some general endowment or a huge anonymous fund, the alumni very much wanted their awards to be quite personalised," said Hall at a recent gathering with the students, "and they very much liked the idea of supporting postgraduate students in a variety of areas that they could identify with."

According to the students, the scholarships are a timely boon to all their studies. "It's made all the difference to my research because instead of having to find a casual job over the vac, I can now actually pay my fees and get on with studying," observed Davison.