Quest Scholarships

The Institution of Civil Engineers offers a wide range of Quest Scholarships each year for students studying Civil Engineering. Quest Scholarships are available for Apprentices, as well as Undergraduates and Postgraduates.

Civil engineering is everything you see that’s been built around us. It’s about roads and railways, schools, offices, hospitals, water and power supply and much more. The kinds of things we take for granted but would find life very hard to live without. In 2018, the ICE is celebrating 200 years of civil engineers designing, planning and building the world we live in today.

The Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) is one of the world’s most respected professional engineering associations. Since it began 200 years ago, the ICE has attracted some of the most famous and influential civil engineers in history as members. In 1818 a small group of young engineers met in a London coffee shop and founded the Institution of Civil Engineers as the world’s first professional engineering body.

They had hoped that lots of engineers from different engineering backgrounds would join the institution. However, civil engineering hadn’t really become an official profession yet, and before the 18th century most engineers were in the armed forces. After two years of struggling to attract new members, ICE asked Thomas Telford to become its first President. His appointment in 1820 not only gave ICE a major boost, it also played a huge part in the shape of the organisation even today.

Telford designed and built all types of infrastructure; from churches to castles, canals to harbours, tunnels to bridges. He was also given the nickname ‘the Colossus of Roads’ because his designs were used to construct all major British highways. During his lifetime, Thomas Telford built over 1,000 miles of roads.

Using his political and social connections, Telford helped to bring in many new members, from the UK and overseas. But his most important role was getting ICE’s Royal Charter in 1828. This charter, which was updated by Queen Elizabeth II in 1975, gives the ICE status as the leading institution for the civil engineering profession. The organisation has more than 92,000 members around the world.

As well as supporting members to become qualified, ICE also encourage them to continue their professional development by providing a variety of civil engineering knowledge resources. These include industry-leading publications from ICE Publishing and tailored courses from ICE Training.

The ICE can also provide sound legal advice and practical guidance to resolve work-related disputes. Furthermore, ICE’s Benevolent Fund also offers members and their families both support and development opportunities. This ranges from advice and guidance on personal and financial matters, to back-to-work schemes and training programmes.