SUST Chhatra Dal leader launches ‘ScholarBhai.com’ to ease overseas higher education

Aiming to simplify scholarship searches and applications for higher education abroad, Rahat Zaman, president of the Shahjalal University of Science and Technology (SUST) unit of Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal, has developed an AI-powered platform offering students a range of services free of charge.

Named ScholarBhai.com, the platform is designed to help students identify suitable scholarships, prepare application documents and navigate the process of pursuing higher education overseas.

Rahat, a student of the university’s Software Engineering Department from the 2018-19 academic session, developed the platform alongside Kazi Tanvir Rahman, joint organising secretary of the SUST unit of Chhatra Dal, and Faridul Reza Sagor, an activist of the organisation.

According to the developers, ScholarBhai.com offers a structured, personalised experience rather than functioning as a conventional information directory based on data collected from the internet. Students can upload their CVs, allowing the platform’s AI technology to analyse the information and build comprehensive profiles.

Taking into account the circumstances of Bangladeshi students, the system considers factors such as GPA, CGPA, IELTS scores, study gaps and bank balances. It compares each student’s profile with scholarship requirements in its database and generates a customised “fit score”.

Rather than automatically excluding students whose profiles fall short of certain requirements, the platform recommends steps they can take to address the gaps and improve their prospects.

One of its key features is a dedicated “Document Workspace” for each application. To address the limitations of using the same CV for applications to different universities, the platform also offers an AI-powered CV tailoring facility.

It provides a “Document Readiness Score” for Statements of Purpose (SOPs) and cover letters. Through this feature, the AI reviews students’ drafts and offers feedback to help improve their applications while preserving their individual voices.

Another feature, “AI Professor Outreach”, allows users to enter a professor’s name and university details. The system then identifies the professor’s recent research interests and prepares a professional email draft with relevant references.

The developers said the feature aims to help students establish academic connections with prospective supervisors and improve the quality of their outreach.

The platform will also offer application guides and community forums linked to individual scholarships, enabling students to seek guidance from verified experts and alumni.

Speaking about the initiative, Rahat Zaman said his experience during a visit to China inspired him to develop a platform for students aspiring to pursue higher education abroad.

“Our politics is guided by the rights and future of students. After returning home from a visit to China, I wanted to develop a platform for students who aspire to pursue higher education abroad. We have been working on the website for the past three months,” he said.

“A global education platform has been developed on the SUST campus, which will play a significant role in human resource development in the country in the coming days,” he added.

Rahat said students would be able to log in and access all the platform’s services free of charge. He also said each Gmail account could be used to log in only once.

A free seminar will be organised every week through the platform, where senior students from SUST and other universities who are pursuing higher education abroad will answer questions from prospective applicants, he added.

Explaining the technical aspects and objectives of the initiative, Faridul Reza Sagor, a member of the development team and a Chhatra Dal activist, said students often faced difficulties finding suitable scholarships, obtaining reliable guidance and managing application documents.

“Keeping track of important deadlines while applying for multiple scholarships and repeatedly providing personal information when using AI are particularly time-consuming processes,” he said.

“The system was developed to address these challenges. Designed to be scalable and user-friendly, it will help students obtain the guidance they need,” he added.