Overview
Scholarship type
Number of scholarships to award
Grant
Scholarship coverage
- tuition fee reduction
- living expenses
- travel expenses
- other
Description
These Commonwealth PhD Scholarships are for candidates from least developed countries and fragile States in the Commonwealth, for full-time doctoral study at a UK university.
Purpose: To contribute to the development needs of Commonwealth countries by supporting research that will have a developmental impact. These awards will also enhance individual teaching and research capacity leading to increase institutional capacity in academic and other sectors in Commonwealth countries, and will contribute to UK higher education and research by attracting high-calibre international candidates and encouraging links and collaboration.
Intended beneficiaries: High-quality graduates who have the potential to undertake world-class research of a developmental nature and to become influential leaders, teachers, or researchers in their home countries.
Funded by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), Commonwealth PhD Scholarships enable talented and motivated individuals to gain the knowledge and skills required for sustainable development, and are aimed at those who could not otherwise afford to study in the UK.
These scholarships are offered under six CSC Development themes.
As part of a partnership agreement between the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission and King's College London, scholars who are funded on this scholarship receive support towards their tuition fees from King's.
Applicable programmes
Benefits
Each scholarship provides:
Approved airfare from the Scholar’s home country to the UK and return at the end of the award (the CSC will not reimburse the cost of fares for dependants, nor the cost of journeys made before the award is confirmed).
Approved tuition fees: full fees are covered by agreement between the CSC and the UK university, and Scholars are not liable to pay for any part of the tuition fee.
A stipend (living allowance) per month.
Warm clothing allowance, where applicable.
Study travel grant towards the cost of study-related travel within the UK or overseas.
Provision towards the cost of fieldwork undertaken overseas (the cost of one economy class return airfare to the fieldwork location), where approved.
Paid mid-term visit (airfare) to the Scholar’s home country.
Family allowances.
Eligibility
- Be a citizen of or have been granted refugee status by an eligible Commonwealth country, or be a British Protected Person.
- Be permanently resident in an eligible Commonwealth country.
- Be available to start academic studies in the UK by the start of the UK academic year in September.
- By September, hold a first degree of at least upper second class (2:1) honours standard, or a second class degree (2:2) and a relevant postgraduate qualification (usually a Master’s degree)*.
- NOT be registered for a PhD, or an MPhil leading to a PhD, at a UK university or in your home country before September/October.
- Be unable to afford to study in the UK without this scholarship.