The Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis has launched a new fellowship programme to encourage university students to pursue high-level Jewish learning.

Open to young men and women studying at university in London from this September, the Shalem Fellowship will offer generous stipends for regular Torah study plus the chance of an all expenses trip to New York.

The Chief Rabbi, who himself will be teaching on the fellowship, said it “truly offers a new landscape of possibility for young women and men who have a desire to continue their advanced Torah study whilst at university.

“I am extremely excited about what they will achieve and the future contribution they will make to the Jewish world and society in general.”

Men will learn in weekday evenings in a beit midrash with additional study on Sunday morning, while a new beit midrash combining daytime and evening sessions will cater for women.

A team of rabbis and educators will teach the programme, led by Rabbanit Hannah and Rabbi Yoni Abrams; Rabbanit Abrams is from London.

There will also be regular visits from scholars from New York’s Yeshiva University, which is a partner on the project together with the Wohl Legacy in London. Their primary focus will be on how the Torah and secular worlds enhance each other.

Fellows will also have the opportunity to study for a certificate in Jewish studies from Yeshiva University - and the option of a week in New York at YU or Stern College.