Applicants eligible for Home Fees
Applicants eligible for Overseas Fees
Applicants eligible for Home Fees(incl. UK and Irish nationals, and those with settled or pre-settled status)
Fully funded studentships (covering fees + maintenance) will be available, sometimes in conjunction with participating departments or Cambridge Trusts Scholarships. Applicants with pre-settled status are expected to qualify for home level fees if they meet the relevant criteria.
Applicants eligible for Home fees may also be eligible for full scholarships provided by Cambridge Trusts, including the prestigious Harding and Gates scholarships. No separate application is normally needed for these, but applicants must tick the relevant boxes on the main application for admission, even if no supporting reasons are provided in the space given (Harding and Gates do require a supporting statement however).
Applicants eligible for Overseas Fees
University Based Funding
All applicants who are eligible for Overseas fees and are accepted to the programme will be considered for partial funding (home-level fees and maintenance) from the SEM PhD and will also be put forward for various additional funding sources for the home-overseas fee difference. Funding offers will normally be made as a full package.
These additional funding sources include, but are not limited to competitive scholarship programmes such as the Gates Cambridge Scholarship, Harding Scholarship and other University based scholarships, as well as funding from SEM PhD industry partners. Application for these is normally via the main graduate admission application form.
These additional funding sources may also offer full scholarships to applicants who are successful in their competitive selection process.
Please Note
No separate application is normally needed for University based scholarships, but applicants must tick the relevant boxes on the main application for admission, even if no supporting reasons are provided in the space given.
Applicants must ensure that they submit their application by 6th January 2025 in order to be considered for University based funding. Please note that SEM PhD internal review deadlines are before this date.
Gates Scholarship - special notes
For the Gates Scholarship you will need to provide a separate supporting statement and an additional reference. In place of a research proposal for the Gates Scholarship application, please provide a description of why you are interested in the SEM programme, and what broad areas you might be interested in doing your research on. US citizens interested in applying for the Gates Cambridge Scholarship must do so by 16th October 2025.
In addition to University based funding, candidates eligible for the scholarships below are strongly encouraged to apply for them:
- Applicants from Commonwealth countries – Commonwealth Scholarship. See their website for country-wise details and deadlines.
- US citizens – Marshall Scholarship. Deadline closed for 2025 round. Will have to be used in conjunction with other scholarships from the University or other sources as Marshall funding is normally available only for two years.
- Canadian citizens – The Canadian Centennial Scholarship Fund (CCSF) Competition opens 9th January 2025 and runs until 14th March 2025.