Entries are open for the 2018 Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) Norman Foster Travelling Scholarship, which accepts applications from architecture students from around the world.

One student from each school nominated by RIBA may enter. The winner receives a £7,000 grant to carry out a research proposal that must be submitted as part of the entry process.

Ben Derbyshire, RIBA president and chair of multidisciplinary practice HTA Design, said, “This year, we are making the scholarship truly global by inviting 264 schools of architecture to join the 93 institutions validated by the RIBA to nominate their talented students.”

In New Zealand, UNITEC Institute of Technology, the University of Auckland and Victoria University of Wellington all appear on the list of invited institutions.

First established in 2006, the scholarship, supported by The Norman Foster Foundation and
Foster + Partners, is intended to fund international research on a topic “related to the survival of our towns and cities.”

Abel Feleke, a Master of Architecture student at the University of Western Australia, was selected as the recipient of the scholarship in 2016, making him one of four recipients of the scholarship not to attend a UK-based architecture school.

Feleke travelled to China, India, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Mexico and Brazil over 12 weeks, examining informal communities and settlements. A postcard by Feleke from Rio de Janeiro can be read here.

The winner of the scholarship will be selected by a jury that will include Foster and Derbyshire.

More information can be found here. Entries close on Friday 20 April 2018.