Competition: grants for Latin American PhD students for research trips of 2-3 months to the University of Cambridge

The Centre of Latin American Studies, University of Cambridge, is pleased to announce two Santander mobility grants for PhD students from Latin America to spend between two and three months in Cambridge between 1 January and 30 June 2016.

Applicants must be currently registered in a doctoral programme at one of the universities within the Santander Universities network (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Uruguay). Their research must focus on Latin America and fall within the Arts, Humanities or Social Sciences. The value of each scholarship is up to 5000 euros (approx. £4200), and may be used to cover travel, accommodation, subsistence, visa fees, visiting scholar fees and research expenses while in Cambridge.

Applications may be written in English, Spanish or Portuguese. They should be submitted by 30 September 2015 to admin@latin-american.cam.ac.uk and addressed to the Director, Centre of Latin American Studies (Dr Joanna Page). Application materials should consist of the following:

• a CV, which should give full details of educational history, including grades for undergraduate and Masters degrees (transcripts will be required at a later stage), and a list of publications, if any.
• a covering letter (max. 2 pages) including a short outline of the applicant’s PhD research. Applicants should explain why they wish to spend 2-3 months in Cambridge and give the intended dates of their stay. They should also indicate their level of spoken English, with reference to international qualifications if possible (IELTS, TOEFL, etc.). While there are no set requirements for competence in English, applicants are advised that good communication skills will be expected in order to manage daily life in Cambridge during their stay.
• two confidential letters of recommendation, to be sent separately by referees by the same date, one of whom should be the applicant’s principal PhD thesis supervisor/director. The letters may be written in English, Spanish or Portuguese. We regret that applications cannot be considered if references are not received by the deadline.

The grants will be awarded on academic merit and the strength of the research project, but preference may be given to applicants who have clear reasons for wishing to spend time in Cambridge (e.g. use of particular library collections or archives, exchange of ideas with staff or research students working in similar fields at Cambridge).

Applicants will be notified of the outcome of their applications by 15 October.

Successful applicants who are not EU nationals will be responsible for obtaining an appropriate visa prior to commencing their time at Cambridge. More information is available here: http://www.internationalstudents.cam.ac.uk/applying/uk-immigration.