Postgraduate Study - PhD and Research Degrees

Alternative funding

There are as many ways to pay for your postgraduate studies as there are postgraduate students; scholarships, studentships, wages, bursaries, savings, inheritance, and, increasingly, alternative methods such as crowdfunding and philanthropy.

Our students have also had success securing funding from a range of local, national and international philanthropic sources, most usually charitable bodies. It's worth investigating parish churches, city councils, and other local bodies, many of which offer scholarships, grants, or bursaries of some kind. 

Details of charitable trusts and other funding organisations can be found in a number of publications including the Grants Register, published by Palgrave Macmillan, and the Directory of Grant-Making Trusts. These can be found in libraries and University careers services. Most of these organisations make relatively small contributions towards the costs of your studies, but they can augment other sources.

We've also put together a mini-directory of some charitable bodies which fund education.

The Alternative Guide to Postgraduate Funding Online

We have subscribed to this online guide, which can help you find alternative sources of funding - especially charities - which can make awards (for fees, maintenance, or research costs) to any student regardless of subject, or nationality.

The guide contains a huge database of funding opportunities, comprehensive guidance, and numerous tools to help you prepare a winning grant application. The guide is free for all current University of Exeter students and staff; simply select 'logon automatically from campus'. If you are a prospective student you can still access the site through UK University campus wifi!

Login to the Alternative Guide to Postgraduate Funding

You may have seen stories in the press about people crowdfunding to help pay their tuition fees. Crowdfunding services, such as  www.indiegogo.com or www.hubbub.net, allow you to raise monetary contributions from a large number of people, typically via the internet, and can help you fundraise directly towards the cost of your degree. It's worth researching the options available via these and other services to see if they suit your needs.

 

The list below outlines a variety of opportunities for external funding from charities, organisations, governments and businesses to support your research study at the University of Exeter. Please note, the University of Exeter is not directly affiliated with the organisations listed below and the information is subject to change. For current information about each scheme, follow the hyperlinks to each website.

All Regions

Boehringer Ingelheim Fonds
Value: £2,000 monthly stipend
Disciplines: Biomedical research

British Federation of Women Graduates- Emergency Grants
Value: £2,500
Disciplines: All
Open to Women only

Colt Foundation PhD Fellowships
Value: £14,000 per year, rising with inflation in the following two years
Disciplines: Occupational and Environmental Health

Dallah Albaraka Grant
Value: Tuition fees and living expenses
Disciplines: All (must be Masters Programme [e.g. MA by Research])

Find a PhD
Value: £12,000
Disciplines: All

Institution of Mechanical Engineers Postgraduate Research Scholarship
Value: Up to £6,500
Disciplines: Engineering

Islamic Development Bank- Scholarship Programme for Muslim Communities
Value: Tuition fees, living expenses, medical fees and round-trip airfares
Disciplines: Medicine, Engineering, Agriculture
Open to Muslim applicants only

Krebs Memorial Scholarship
Value: £18,500
Disciplines: Biochemistry, Biomedicine

Rotary International
Value: £20,000
Disciplines: Engineering (research focussed on clean water solutions)
Open to those with Rotary membership only

Royal Geographical Society- Slawson Award
Value: £3,000
Disciplines: Geography

Royal Historical Society- Marshall-Centenary Fellowship
Value: £15,726
Disciplines: History

EU applicants

Bosworth Smith Trust Fund
Value: up to £5,000
Disciplines: Metal mining, nonferrous extraction metallurgy or mineral dressing
Open to European citizens working in Europe or overseas, and to non-European citizens pursuing their PhD project in Europe.

Google- Europe Scholarship for Students with Disabilities
Value: £6,500
Disciplines: Technology (computer science, computer engineering, informatics or a closely related technical field)

Helmut Claas-Scholarship
Value: Up to £6,500
Disciplines: Agriculture & Engineering & Economics

Institution of Mechanical Engineers Whitworth Senior Scholarship
Value: Up to £8,250 per year
Disciplines: Engineering

Lanekassen
Value: up to 340 719 NOK (approx £30,000) split 30/70 between grant and loan.
Disciplines: All
Open to Norwegian citizens only

The Anglo-Danish Society
Value: £2,500
Disciplines: All
Open to Danish citizens only

International Applicants

Aramco Scholarship Program
Value: Tuition fees and living expenses
Disciplines: Engineering, Geography, Business, Mathematics
Open to Saudi Arabian Men only

Becas Chile
Value: Tuition fees, round-trip flights, allocation for books and materials, monthly maintenance allowance
Disciplines: All
Open to Chilean citizens only

British Marshall Scholarships
Value: £35,000 per year. Personal allowance, tuition fees, round-trip fares to/from the US, travel and resource allowances
Disciplines: All
Open to American citizens only

Canadian Centennial Scholarship Fund
Value: £2,000 to £5,000
Disciplines: All
Open to Canadian citizens only

Charlotte Conservation Fellowships
Value: Up to £25,000 (approx. £17,700)
Disciplines: Conservation and Biology
Open to citizens of Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Zambia, South Africa, Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Mozambique and Botswana only

Chinese Student Awards
Value: Up to £3,000
Disciplines: All
Open to Chinese citizens only

COLFUTURO Scholarships Loan Programme
Value: £20,000
Disciplines: All
Open to Colombian citizens only

Commonwealth PhD Scholarships for low and middle income countries
Value: Tuition fees, £1,065 per month, travel grant, airfares, family allowance
Disciplines: All
Open to citizens of commonwealth low and middle income countries. Applicants can check their eligibility by searching their home country on the CSC website

Commonwealth Scholarships for PhD or split-site PhD study
Value: Tuition fees, £1,043 monthly stipend, return airfare to home country, travel grant
Disciplines: All
Applicants must be a citizen of or refugee in Australia, The Bahamas, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Cyprus, Malta, or New Zealand, and be permanently resident in one of these countries

CONACYT
Value: Tuition fees up to 300,000 pesos (approx £11,700), monthly stipend ($770) and allowance for medical insurance
Disciplines: Science and Humanities
Open to Mexican citizens

Croucher Foundation
Value: Annual maintenance allowance of $30,300 (approx. £21,500), return airfare, arrival allowance,  medical insurance, family allowance (totalling more than £75,000 for the duration of PhD)
Disciplines: Natural Sciences, Technology and Medicine
Open to citizens of Hong Kong

Edgar Pam Fellowship
Value: £2,000
Disciplines: Mining
Open to citizens of UK, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa

FIDERH
Value: 200,000MXN (approx. £7,800)

Disciplines: All
Open to Mexican citizens

General Sir John Monash Foundation
Value: 70,000AUD (approx. £38,000) per year
Disciplines: All
Open to Australian citizens

Global Education Program
Value: up to 2,763,600ruble (approx. £34,100) per year
Disciplines: All
Open to Russian citizens

Islamic Development Bank- M.Sc. Scholarship Programme

Value: Tuition fees, Living Expenses, medical fees, round trip airfares
Disciplines: Science, Engineering, Technology, Medicine, Statistics
Open to applicants from 20 Middle Eastern Countries

Islamic Development Bank- Merit Scholarship Programme for High Technology

Value: Tuition fees, Living Expenses, medical fees, round trip airfares
Disciplines: Medicine, Agriculture, Engineering, Technology, Science
Open to applicants from 57 Middle Eastern Countries

Kenneth Lindsay Scholarship Trust

Value: £2000 (candidates can re-apply for funding for each year of their degree)
Disciplines: All
Open to Israeli citizens only

PRONABEC Funding
Value: Tuition fees, Living Expenses (monthly stipend), medical insurance, return flights
Disciplines: All
Open to citizens of Peru only

Qalaa Holdings Scholarship Foundation
Value: Tuition fees and living expenses
Disciplines: All
Open to citizens of Egypt only

Robert S. McNamara Fellowships Program

Value: £20,000
Disciplines: Development
Open to nationals of developing countries. See website for more information.

Roberto Rocca Education Program- Fellowship

Value: Tuition fees and living expenses
Disciplines: Science, Petroleum Engineering
Open to citizens of Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Indonesia, Mexico, Romania and Venezuela only

Said Foundation Scholarship
Value: Tuition fees and living expenses
Disciplines: All
Open to citizens of Syria, Palestine, Lebanon and Jordan only

Scholarship For Turkish Students Abroad
Value: Tuition fees and living expenses
Disciplines: All
Open to citizens of Turkey only

Shell Malaysia Scholarship
Value: Tuition fees and living expenses
Disciplines: Engineering, Science, Business
Open to Malaysian citizens only

Sir Robert Black Trust Fund Postgraduate Scholarships

Value: Tuition fees and living expenses
Disciplines: All
Open to citizens of Hong Kong only

Tan Kah Kee Foundation
Value: £5,700 (it is possible to reapply annually)
Disciplines: All
Open to citizens of Singapore only

The Great Britain-China Educational Trust (GBCET)
Value: £3000
Disciplines: All
Open to Chinese citizens only

The Henry Lester Trust
Value: £2,500
Disciplines: Architecture, Medicine, Technology, Mechanical Sciences
Open to Chinese citizens only

UNESCO Fellowships for Priority Development Programmes
Value: Tuition fees and living expenses
Disciplines: Education, Natural Sciences, Culture, Social Sciences
Open to nationals of developing countries. See website for more information.

 

UK applicants

Bosworth Smith Trust Fund
Value: up to £5,000
Disciplines: Metal mining, nonferrous extraction metallurgy or mineral dressing

British Federation of Women Graduates

Value: £1,000-£4,000
Disciplines: All
Open to Women only

British Spanish Society Scholarship
Value: £4,500-£5,000
Disciplines: All

Council for Assisting Refugee Academics

Value: Tuition fees and living expenses
Disciplines: All
Open to applicants with Refugee Status only

Edgar Pam Fellowship

Value: £2,000
Disciplines: Mining
Open to citizens of UK, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa only

Institute of Engineering and Technology Awards

Value: £2,500-£10,000
Disciplines: Engineering and Technology
Applicants must have been members of IET for at least one year.

Institution of Mechanical Engineers Whitworth Senior Scholarship
Value: Up to £8,250 per year
Disciplines: Engineering

Sir William Boreman's Foundation
Value: Up to £3,000 (Can be reapplied for)
Disciplines: All
Applicants from Greenwich and Lewisham only