A friend of mine who is a former interpreter for the European Union's diplomatic office in Beijing (now freelance) has asked me to run the notice below. The EU is offering €25,000 scholarships for native English speakers with Chinese skills who are interested in becoming qualified conference interpreters.

The intro is below, and an RTF document with all the details is here.

As part of the EU Chinese Interpreter Training Programme 2006-2009, the European Commission/DG Interpretation intends to re-launch the scholarship scheme for EU citizens who possess a thorough knowledge of Chinese for the academic year 2008-9. A small number of scholarships will be available for successful candidates who possess

• a high standard of Chinese (colloquial and formal registers, written and spoken)
• native-speaker level English
• good oral communication skills, indicating an aptitude for interpreting
• good general knowledge and knowledge of current affairs
  

Scholarships will be awarded for study in China on recognised professional conference interpreting courses at the University of International Business and Economics, Beijing or at Shanghai International Studies University.

DG Interpretation cooperates with these institutions and is represented at their graduation exams.

The scholarship will amount to €25.000 over two years to cover travel, course fees and subsistence. Scholars will undertake to sit an inter-institutional accreditation test to be organised after completion of their studies and, if successful, to give the EU institutions first call upon their services for a period of three years.

Full details here (.rtf).

Previously on Imagethief:

How to work with Interpreters