Funding and Scholarships for Postgraduate Study
Prospective students
Research Council Awards
- See information on AHRC Block Grant Partnership procedure
British and EU applicants may seek funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), so long as the proposed thesis project (MPhil or PhD) relates to Cultural or Literary Studies, Film, History, or Cultural Anthropology (where the subject matter involves the study of texts). To be eligible for an AHRC award under the Research Preparation Masters’ scheme, a candidate must express an interest in continuing to the PhD in their AHRC application. It is not possible to apply for an award for the Professional Preparation Masters’ scheme for the MPhil in Latin American Studies. Further information on the application procedure is available here, and you should also read the Board of Graduate Studies’ information pages on AHRC funding).
Those interested in research on topics covered by the ESRC should note that the ESRC only offers support for Masters’ + PhD, not for Masters’ Degrees alone. The MPhil in Latin American Studies is not recognized by the ESRC as part of a 1+3 package, so if you are interested in economics or social sciences and are looking specifically for ESRC funding, you should consider applying to the Economics or Sociology/Politics Departments.
Gates Scholarships
Non-UK Candidates (i.e., EU or Overseas) applying for the MPhil or the PhD may apply for a Gates Scholarship, which provides full fees and maintenance for up to 100 new scholars per year across the University. The application deadlines are, however, very early, especially for candidates from the USA (as early as 15th October for entry the following October), so please check the Board of Graduate Studies deadlines and the Gates Scholarship website.
Cambridge Commonwealth Trust and Cambridge Overseas Trust Scholarships
The Cambridge Commonwealth Trust and the Cambridge Overseas Trust were established as charities by the University of Cambridge in the 1980s in order to provide financial support for international students on degree courses at Cambridge.
The Trusts offer a number of scholarships, under a multiplicity of schemes, to enable candidates of outstanding academic merit from around the world (excluding the United Kingdom and the EU) to pursue courses of study or research at the University of Cambridge. These awards are for all levels of graduate and undergraduate study.
Full information about the scholarships is available from the Cambridge Commonwealth Trust and the Cambridge Trusts website.
Santander Scholarships
M.Phil students will automatically be considered for a Cambridge Santander Scholarship (£10,000) provided that it is indicated upon application that they wish to be considered for support from the Cambridge Commonwealth Trust and Cambridge Overseas Trust. These scholarships are actively promoted towards students in the Santander Network Universities in non EU countries. They are partial awards, designed to help towards course fees and/or maintenance costs. Awards are made on the basis of academic merit.
Simón Bolívar Bursaries
The Centre is able to offer a small number of Simón Bolívar bursaries of up to £4,000 to help meet the costs of fees and maintenance for the M.Phil in Latin American Studies. All applicants will automatically be considered for these bursaries on merit, but are also required to apply to all other available sources of funding. Both Home/EU and Overseas students will be considered. An applicant receiving full funding from a public source becomes ineligible for a Bolívar bursary, which then passes to the next eligible applicant. The Simón Bolívar Fund, from which these grants are awarded, was created with a generous donation from the Venezuelan government in 1968.
Other
Latin American students have also received funding from Erasmus Mundus, run by the European Commission. Venezuelan women students should apply to the Menca de Leoni Studentship (via Newnham College) which offers a substantial partial studentship to a Venezuelan woman wishing to read for the M.Phil. in any subject. Information is available here: http://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/reporter/2007-08/special/06/184.html
Further information
More information on all of these sources of funding may be obtained from the Board of Graduate Studies. The Board will also advise international students and self-funding British students on the current level of fees. For international students, the information given by the British Council on funding study in the UK may also be useful.