Scholarships
Swire has a long history of educational sponsorship. We believe that giving young people a chance to build a better future for themselves is one of the best ways to give back to the communities that have helped our businesses grow and prosper. Our support for education dates back to the first decade of the 20th century, when Swire donated £40,000 to the University of Hong Kong (HKU) and endowed the Taikoo Chair of Engineering at the University. Today, the Swire group provides a wide variety of scholarships, grants and bursaries across the globe to graduate and post-graduate students at tertiary level, as well as to secondary school students.
The Swire Educational Trust
The Swire Educational Trust (SET), headquartered in the UK and administered by parent company John Swire & Sons Limited, was established in the 1980s to sponsor graduate and postgraduate places in the UK for scholars around the world. The Trust places special emphasis on students from the communities where we do business. SET has sponsored university places for undergraduate and graduate students principally at Oxford University, undergraduate study in the UK for children of group employees in Hong Kong SAR, and also scholars at Aberdeen, Warwick, London, Reading and Leeds Universities in the UK.
For details of Swire scholarships at Oxford University (University College and St. Antony’s College), please visit https://apps.swire.com/scholarships/homepage.
Hong Kong scholars
In Hong Kong, Swire Pacific Limited and John Swire & Sons (HK) Limited share the cost of funding tertiary scholarships for local and Mainland Chinese students at a number of Hong Kong universities. The Swire Doctoral Scholarship was established at the University of Hong Kong in 1997, with the aim of funding two postgraduate students and academics from leading Mainland universities. On a similar basis, two Swire Postgraduate Scholarships were established in 2003, to fund students from Mainland universities to study Masters' degree courses in Economics and Common Law at HKU. A scholarship is provided annually at HKU for an official from Hong Kong & Macao Affairs Office since 1991. Since 2009, two visiting scholarships are also provided annually at HKU for senior research officials from the Ministry of Commerce of the PRC Government.
In addition, funding is available to the children of group employees in Hong Kong studying at secondary and tertiary levels.
The Swire China Scholarship
The Swire China Scholarship (SCS) was established at the end of 2017 to sponsor outstanding Hong Kong students pursuing undergraduate study at 30 renowned universities in the Chinese Mainland. There are no restrictions on applicants’ selected majors. Each year, scholarships are open for application from mid of July to the end of September and are awarded to 20 freshmen who may apply for renewal annually until graduation. By supporting their cross-border study, the SCS aims to encourage Hong Kong’s younger generation to contribute to the future development of Hong Kong and the Chinese Mainland.
Operating companies
As Swire's business interests grow and spread geographically, so has the scope of its scholarship funding. Outside of the UK and Hong Kong, locally-based operating companies have initiated a range of schemes to benefit students in the countries where they operate. Please visit the websites of our operating companies for detailed information.
