When higher education systems face conflict, instability, or prolonged disruption, the immediate focus often turns to infrastructure. Campuses must be rebuilt. Laboratories must be restored. Equipment must be replaced.
Yet universities are not defined by their buildings; they are defined by their people.
In fragile contexts, investing in academic talent through strategically designed scholarship programmes can be one of the most effective ways to protect institutional continuity. Physical reconstruction can happen relatively quickly. Rebuilding academic depth, leadership and research culture takes far longer. It requires sustained investment in individuals who will return, teach, lead and reform.
Why Investment in People Matters
Developing a research-active lecturer or department leader requires years of training, mentorship and exposure to international academic standards. When higher education systems are disrupted by conflict, the loss or displacement of experienced academics creates a gap that cannot be filled quickly.
Scholarships aligned with institutional priorities provide a structured response to this challenge. They enable universities to plan for future capacity, not only immediate survival. By investing in individuals who return to their institutions, scholarship programmes create a pipeline of qualified academics embedded within the system.
The Higher Education Scholarships for Palestinians (HESPAL), managed by the British Council in partnership with Palestinian and UK universities and multiple funding partners, offers a clear example of how this model works in practice.
This exchange of talent and ideas flows in both directions. HESPAL scholars are academically gifted, committed and innovative. Feedback from our partner universities in the UK demonstrates the international calibre of our HESPAL scholars and the positive contributions they make to their academic departments, research activities and the wider institutional culture.
A Model Built on Return and Institutional Alignment
Since 2010, HESPAL has supported 256 scholarships across 38 universities in the UK, through 196 master’s degrees and 60 PhDs. Women account for 55 per cent of participants, contributing to gradual progress in academic representation within Palestinian higher education.
The distinctive feature of the programme lies in its design. Palestinian universities nominate junior academic staff whose development aligns with institutional strategies and national priorities. Scholars return upon completion, embedding advanced subject knowledge, research and teaching skills and professional networks directly into their home institutions.
Over 15 years, this approach has steadily strengthened the academic workforce across Palestinian universities.
From Individual Development to Systemic Impact
Investment in people generates measurable outcomes. Alumni data indicates that 89% of scholars apply the skills gained during their studies. 62% achieve career progression within two years of return and more than half report significant changes in their professional practice.
Evidence from an impact assessment study commissioned by the British Council indicates that these individual developments translate into institutional transformation. Returned HESPAL scholars have established research centres and thematic hubs. Departments have modernised curricula to reflect updated standards and evidence-based approaches. Project-based learning has been introduced in place of traditional lecture models. Research groups structured around international best practice have secured external funding and strengthened global engagement.
A single scholarship can influence a department. A cohort can influence an institution. Over time, a network of scholars contributes to strengthening the wider higher education ecosystem.
Investing in People During Conflict
The urgency of this approach has become particularly evident in the context of the war on Gaza since October 2023. Higher education institutions in Gaza have experienced widespread destruction, with hundreds of university students, teaching staff and academic leaders killed. Universities in the West Bank continue to operate under significant constraints, including restrictions on movement, episodes of settler violence in surrounding communities and periodic military incursions that disrupt normal academic activities.
In such circumstances, safeguarding and strengthening academic capital is not secondary to reconstruction; it is foundational to it. When rebuilding begins in full, institutions will require qualified academics ready to teach, supervise research, redesign curricula and lead reform.
A Strategic Choice for the Future
In contexts shaped by conflict and uncertainty, rebuilding higher education requires more than restoring infrastructure, it needs the right people: capable academics ready, in place and prepared to lead institutions forward.
Scholarships aligned with institutional priorities offer a practical and proven pathway to protect and strengthen that human capital. The experience of the Higher Education Scholarships for Palestinians demonstrates what sustained investment in people can achieve. The broader lesson is clear: when systems are under pressure, investing in individuals is not a short-term intervention, it is a proven strategy for preservation, resilience, recovery and continuity.