Dublin City Council is delighted to announce that an Italian student has won the Dublin Postgraduate Scholarship competition to live and study in Dublin for the academic year.

Rachelle Faggiani beat competition from over 1,400 entrants to claim the prize and has chosen to study for an M.Phil. Literary Translation. She arrives in Dublin this month to begin her course at Trinity College Dublin.

The Scholarship is an initiative by Education in Ireland and the Dublin City Council Place Brand Unit in partnership with nine Dublin universities and colleges.

“I was delighted to meet Rachelle and welcome her to the city that will be her new home for the next academic year,” said the Lord Mayor of Dublin Caroline Conroy. “This is a fantastic opportunity for her, and I hope she enjoys studying and living here and tells all her friends and family back home in Italy about how wonderful our city is.”

“I’m the kind of person that pours myself completely into her jobs and projects,” said Rachelle. “I have many hobbies and passions but I’m also really serious about my education. Winning this scholarship, having the opportunity to stay in a room on campus at Trinity, being able to really live the university life in Dublin is more that I could ever dreamed for my Postgraduates studies.”

Rachelle will now receive a full scholarship covering tuition costs, as well as accommodation, flights and a stipend for living expenses.

The Postgraduate Scholarship competition was launched earlier this year to reinforce Dublin’s reputation as one of the best student cities in Europe. The digital marketing campaign ran across France, Germany, Italy and Spain throughout April and May 2022.

Giles O’Neill, Head of Education in Ireland, Enterprise Ireland said: “The Education in Ireland team were delighted to support this initiative, highlighting an increasing interest in Dublin and Ireland, something which we are keen to build on into the future.”

Dublin attracts thousands of students from around the world to study in one of its many world ranking universities and colleges. Students are drawn to Dublin for many reasons including its warm welcome, reputation as one of Europe’s most dynamic cities for arts, music and culture and for the job opportunities from many of the world’s biggest companies and brands located in the city. International students are a key market for Irish third level colleges, with numbers still recovering post-COVID. Gross income from international students from fees and spending in the economy, amounted to almost €2.5 billion in 2019 (Source: Irish Times).

Declan Coogan, Associate Director of Student Recruitment at Trinity College Dublin, said: “We are delighted to welcome Rachelle to Trinity and congratulate her on receiving this prestigious scholarship. It is wonderful to see how collaboration in this campaign between Dublin City Council, Education in Ireland and the higher education institutions across our city has led to such a high level of interest in Dublin as a study destination for international students.”

Participating Institutions