Scholarship winners

The 320 scholarship holders of 2024 come from 58 countries. Forty-four percent are women. They work as customs officers (31%), curators (24%), judges (9%), experts (14%) and in civil-society organisations (22%).

The cohort was welcomed in Paris, Nairobi and Singapore on an induction day.

A customs officer from West Africa, a scholarship holder in 2018, set up an identification unit in her port that led to seventeen seizures. A curator from Latin America inventoried 2,300 objects in his museum using the Academy's methods. A judge from Asia introduced a module on cultural property into her colleagues' training.

These careers illustrate the scholarship's multiplier effect.

Follow-up at one and three years measures impact. Scholarship holders report that the training improved their practice (96%), that they obtained a promotion or new responsibilities (58%) and that they pass on their skills (84%).

These results are published each year and guide award priorities.

Each year, an award recognises a scholarship holder for an exceptional achievement. The winner receives an endowment to fund a protection or training project in their country. The award is presented at the network's annual meeting.

Among the winners: the creation of a community museum, the restitution of forty objects to a village, a training programme for a hundred site guards.

Former scholarship holders can become the Academy's ambassadors in their country: they present the training, support applicants and circulate calls for scholarships. They receive training and an expense allowance.

This mission strengthens the visibility of the programmes in remote regions.

The Academy's reception service answers practical questions Monday to Friday, in French, English and Spanish, and can direct each visitor to the programme, scholarship or free resource that fits their situation. A guidance counsellor also offers a thirty-minute individual meeting, by appointment, to build a realistic training pathway.

Trainees' feedback is valuable: each session gives rise to a questionnaire, and the most useful suggestions are examined each quarter by the teaching committee. Do not hesitate to write to report a difficulty, propose a subject or tell us what the training has changed in your practice.