- Fees and Fee Status
- Overseas Research Studentships
- AHRC Awards for UK and EU students
- London Consortium Bursaries and Studentships
- University of London Central Research Fund
- Other Possible Sources of Funding
Fees and fee status
Tuition fees for 2008/09 are £3,330 for UK/EU students and £11,250 for overseas students.
The Registry will advise you in detail about methods of payment: it is possible to pay in 3 termly instalments or, by direct debit in 8 monthly payments from October to May. More information can be found on Birkbeck’s website
Fee Status
UK/Home: A UK national permanently and currently residing in the UK, or an EU national who is and has been a permanent UK resident for the last three years, not wholly for the purpose of full-time education. The three-year minimum residency might be by-passed if claiming migrant-worker status.
EU: An EU national permanently residing in an EU country. An EU national who has been living abroad for the purposes of full-time education may claim this status in most cases.
Overseas: Anyone who does not fall under the above categories. This usually includes Commonwealth students.
Overseas Research Studentships
Overseas Research Studentships (ORS) awards are available for partial remission of tuition fees to international postgraduate students of outstanding merit and research potential. The scheme is funded by the Committee of Vice-Chancellors and Principals of the United Kingdom, and a Birkbeck College Committee is responsible for the selection of awardholders.
Eligibility: Students liable for the full rate of Overseas fee who are entering the first or second year of doctoral research.
Tenure: Up to three years
Information: Please email the London Consortium office for further details.
Deadline: Applications for the 08/09 awards must reach the London Consortium office by 14th March 2008.
Value of award: The difference between the home and overseas fee. (The actual award is less than this difference, but The London Consortium will ‘top-up’ the award so that award holders themselves are only liable to pay UK/EU rate fees.) Please note that there is no maintenance element.
A small number of other international student awards are also available through Birkbeck College. Further information will be provided to eligible students by the Consortium office.
AHRC Awards for UK and EU students
The Arts and Humanities Research Council offers full-time awards for Research Preparation Masters degrees (such as the Consortium MRes) and Doctoral degree programmes (such as the Consortium doctoral programme).
The Research Preparation Master’s Scheme
Eligibility: Full-time and part-time students ordinarily resident in England or Wales (full award) and EU students (fees only) newly entering a taught Masters degree with the explicit intention of later pursuing doctoral level research.
Tenure: One year
Information: Information and application forms can be downloaded directly from the AHRC website. Please contact the London Consortium office with any queries about completing your application.
Internal deadline: Applications for 08/09 awards should reach the Consortium by 14th March 2008.
Results known: Early to mid August (sometimes later)
Value of award: UK/EU tuition fees, plus an annual maintenance grant for students ordinarily resident in the UK only.
The Doctoral Awards Scheme
Eligibility: Full-time and part-time students ordinarily resident in England or Wales (full award) and EU students (fees only) applying to do a research degree.
Tenure: Up to three years for full-time students
Information: Information and application forms can be downloaded directly from the AHRC website. Please contact the London Consortium office with any queries about completing your application.
Internal deadline: Applications for 08/09 awards should read the Consortium by 14th March 2008.
Results known: Early to mid August (sometimes later)
Value of award: UK/EU tuition fees, plus an annual maintenance grant for students ordinarily resident in the UK only.
Applicants ordinarily resident in Scotland should apply to the Scottish Awards Agency for Scotland. Applicants normally resident in the Channel Islands should approach the Island Education Authorities.
London Consortium Bursaries
There are two fees-only bursaries open to students joining the programme.
Awards will be open to students who are not in receipt of funding from any other source.
Consortium candidates who have been unsuccessful in their application for ORS or AHRC awards will automatically be considered for a Consortium bursary.
Applications will be assessed by the Consortium’s Academic Steering Committee and will be awarded solely on the basis of academic merit. There is no obligation to award all bursaries if applicants are not considered to be of a sufficiently high academic standard in any particular year.
Bursaries awarded to UK/EU students will provide full funding for tuition fees.
Bursaries awarded to overseas students will reduce tuition fees to the home fee rate.
Letters of application should reach the Consortium office by the end of June.
Decisions will be announced in late August, together with a reserve list.
London Consortium Studentships
The Consortium is sometimes able to offer studentships in collaboration with one of its constituent institutions. In recent years we have offered;
a Tate-Consortium Studentship, which involves organising a series of events around the theme of phenomonology;
an ICA-Consortium Studentship, which involves researching the history of the ICA and working as a Research Assistant for the ICA in the preparation of the events and publication planned to mark the institution’s 60 year anniversary in 2007.
Further details of any future Studentships will be advertised on our website.
University of London Central Research Fund
The University of London has funds that enrolled postgraduate students can apply for to help towards costs incurred whilst undertaking their research. There are two deadlines during the academic year for applications for these funds - usually in October and March. See the University’s website for full details.
Other Possible Sources of Funding
Large grants, fellowships and scholarships usually have very strict defined eligibility rules. Most of the fellowships and grants listed are restricted to either UK, EU, or to Overseas postgraduate applicants only. Nevertheless, it is always worth taking a moment to investigate and ask as some bodies will make exceptions or have a scale of grants for applicants in each of the three status categories (e.g., EU students not residing in the UK are not eligible for AHRB maintenance awards, but are eligible for fees-only grants).
Small grants for specific purposes are available from some educational trust funds and charities. Lists of these may be consulted in most public reference libraries. The following UK print publications have information about smaller grants (usually under £500). Most of them are updated annually:
Guide to University Scholarships & Awards, by Brian Heap published by Trotman
The Grants Register, published by Macmillan
The Educational Grants Directory, published by the Directory of Social Change
The Directory of Grant-making Trusts, published by the Charities Aid Foundation
Sources of Funding
The American Association of University Women is the largest source of funding exclusively for graduate women in the world. Visit www.aauw.org - eligibility criteria and applications for fellowships and grants may be downloaded from this site.
The American Council of Learned Societies (http://www.acls.org/fellows.htm) and the College Art Association (http://www.collegeart.org/fellowships/) have many links to art and humanities fellowships and grants, including the Henry Luce Foundation fellowship on American art. The College Art Association’s site is geared mainly to US based research, but also includes funding for international programmes.
The Arts and Humanities Research Council (See AHRC above, in section1) has a good link to other sources of funding for the humanities— here’s the shortcut: http://www.ahrb.ac.uk/links/other_research_funders.asp
Awards for Graduate Study at Commonwealth Universities (ISBN 0-85143-147-X), published by the Association of Commonwealth Universities, John Foster House, 36 Gordon Square, London WC1H 0PF; http://www.acu.ac.uk/
For international students, the British Council website at http://www.britishcouncil.org is well worth a visit. Some of the awards they offer include:
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British Council Fellowships
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Foreign and Commonwealth Office Scholarships and Award Scheme (FCOSAS)
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British Chevening Scholarships
There are currently no British Council awards for US citizens, but the Council administer some schemes for which US students can apply and you may learn more by consulting their website. If you are not a United States national, you may be able to apply for the awards mentioned listed above while you are still in your country of origin. It is very important that international students research funding sources before coming to Britain: many schemes can only be accessed while still in your country of origin. Go to the main website listed above for a list of British Council websites worldwide.
The British Federation of Women Graduates Charitable Foundation (Tel: 020 740 464 47 or e-mail BFWG.charity@btinternet.com) has studentships and hardship funds for UK and overseas postgraduates. They provide Foundation Grants of up to £2,500, with the majority being about £1,000. Send SAE, size C5, for application form to The Grants Administrator, BFWG Charitable Foundation, 28 Great James Street, London WC1N 3ES. Deadline March; decisions announced late July. They can also make Emergency Grants of up to £500 to graduate women who face an unforeseeable financial crisis. Requests must be marked Emergency Grant and include the £5 administration fee and a C5 UK stamped self-addressed envelope.
Other awards include the Theodora Bosanquet bursary for research in History or English Literature, more details from their website http://www.bcfgrants.org.uk/. The criteria for awarding grants are the proven needs of the applicants and their academic calibre.
The British Federation of Women Graduates (BFWG), offers two types of awards: The National Awards are offered to women, of all nationalities, in their final year of study towards a PhD degree (MPhil research students would need to have been upgraded to a PhD by the competition deadline) at a UK institution. The chief criterion is academic excellence. The International Awards are given, by affiliation with the International Federation of University Women, for study, research, or training at the doctoral or post-doctoral level in various countries including Canada, America, Australia and Japan. BFWG recommends students to the relevant body after interviewing those short-listed in June. For further information send a C5 stamped addressed envelope along with a request for a leaflet to British Federation of Women Graduates, 4 Mandeville Courtyard, 142 Battersea Park Road, London SW11 4NB. For more information on the International Federation of University Women (America, Australia and Japan) visit http://www.ifuw.org/. Membership to both BFWG and IFUW is open to women graduates.
The British High Commissioner’s Award for Malaysians: approximately 60 awards for tuition fees only are available each year for Malaysians intending to study at British institutions of higher learning at undergraduate or postgraduate level. For successful applicants, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office will pay full tuition fees for the approved course directly to the institution concerned. The award does not cover any other expenses. Awards are available for study in any subject area. The scheme is usually announced in September of each year. Postgraduate awards are normally given for research or study for up to one year but a limited number of two or three year awards may be made subject to review at the end of each year. Awards are open to Malaysian students who already hold, or expect to receive a good honours degree from a recognised university or an equivalent qualification before commencing their studies. Both privately and publicly sponsored students are eligible to apply. Government employees or employees of statutory bodies should submit their applications through the Training and Career Development Division, Public Services Department, 9-11 Floor Bangunan Perkim, Jalan Ipoh, 50510 Kuala Lumpur.
The Bourse formation-recherche Scholarship is awarded by the Luxembourg Ministère de la Culture, de l’Enseignement Supérieur et de la Recherche. Research projects should have some relevance to Luxembourg, and candidates are advised to, at least in part, work with one or more of the national research centres. Visit http://www.gouvernement.lu/dossiers/recherche/mcesr/rech4.html for more information.
The Chronicle for Higher Education (US) (http://chronicle.com/) offers news relating to grants, fellowships, deadlines etc.
The European Commission on Education and Culture at http://europa.eu.int/pol/educ/index_en.htm, encourages structured co operation between students of European and/or associated countries. The European Community Action Programme in the field of education, Socrates, provides financial assistance to contribute to the extra costs for transnational mobility of teachers, pupils and students in the framework of co operation agreements between educational institutions of the Member states, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein, the associated Central and Eastern European countries, Cyprus and Malta.
Within Erasmus, the EU programme that covers the higher education activities of the Socrates programme, a student may apply for a student mobility grant, which contributes to the extra costs within a structured inter-university exchange program. The information that we have received on funding from the European Commission does not state that postgraduate students are ineligible for Erasmus grants, but you may want to check with Birkbeck. The individual student must apply through his/her home university at its Erasmus or international relations office. The form of the Institutional contract (in which the institutions request co operation activities with other institutions in the different aforementioned participating countries) can be requested by the institution (Birkbeck College in this instance) at the Technical assistance office, email info@socrates-youth.be.
Elizabeth Nuffield Education Fund makes grants towards the cost of childcare for women between the ages of 21 and 50 who are studying for qualifications to improve their employment prospects. Childcare arrangements must meet the requirements of The Children Act, 1989. Further details are available from the Administrator, Elizabeth Nuffield Educational Fund, 28 Bedford Square, London WC1B 3EG, tel: (0171) 631 0566 or fax: (0171) 323 4877. For more information visit the Fund’s website http://www.nuffieldfoundation.org/. The selection Committee meets in March, July and November each year, with closing dates for receipt of completed application forms approximately 10 weeks before each meeting.
Fastweb.com is a database of over 600,000 scholarships—you will need to register in order to receive more details on funding that is suitable to your project. Application is free. This is a fantastic resource to know about: http://www.fastweb.com
The Fellowship lists at some US universities are rich and time-saving compilations of postgraduate and postdoctoral sources of funding.
Yale: http://www.cs.yale.edu/homes/tap/fellowships.html
NCSU: http://www.fis.ncsu.edu/grad_fellows/national.html
Financial Resources for International Study (ISBN 0-97866-837-3), published by Peterson’s in collaboration with the Institute of International Education, NY; www.iie.org
The Financial Aid Information Page (US) provides a free, comprehensive, independent and objective guide to student financial aid: www.finaid.org. It includes sections on Study Abroad, Fulbright and Loans. It provides an on-line database search for appropriate scholarships/fellowships through FastWEB (Financial Aid Search Through the Web).
The Foundation Center (US) publishes The Foundation Directory, a classic reference guide for grantseekers. They also produce many other directories, guides and research reports. The Center disseminates current information on foundation and corporate giving through its libraries and network of over 200 cooperating collections in the US and abroad. Their website lists grantmaking institutions and their guidelines. http://fdncenter.org/ .
Fulbright awards for US graduates studying abroad: http://www.cies.org//. cies1@ciesnet.cies.org (application requests only).
Fulbright awards for UK graduates for study in the USA: http://www.fulbright.co.uk
The Grantsmanship Center (TGCI) announces daily new grant opportunities available on the Federal Register: www.tgci.com
GrantsNet: http://www.grantsnet.org/.
The Harvard College Guide to Grants (11th edition, ISBN 0-943747-19-8) published by the Office of Career Services, Harvard University, 54 Dunster Street, Cambridge, MA 02138
International Education Financial Aid: useful links and a message board at http://www.iefa.org/.
Marshall Scholarships(http://www.marshallscholarship.org/) are open to United States citizens under 26 who are graduates of universities in the United States and who wish to undertake a research degree at a British University. Funds are provided through the Foreign and Commonwealth Office for approximately 40 new awards each year. Awards are for 2 years in the first instance and cover tuition fees, maintenance, book thesis and travel allowances. UK enquiries should be addressed to: Marshall Aid Commemoration Commission, John Foster House, 36 Gordon Square, London WC1H 0PF
The National Academies (US) provides information on science and technology grants and fellowships and is also a great reference point for other funding websites. http://www.nationalacademies.org/.
Programme Alban provides scholarships for Latin American students, funded by the EU, and covers postgraduate studies at Higher Education Institutions in the EU, providing a grant of up to 75% of the cost of the education/training project (fees, living expenses, transport etc). These scholarships are available until 2010 and the deadline for receiving applications is generally early December. More information is available at http://www.programalban.org/index.jsp
Scholarship Search, at www.scholarship-search.org.uk, provides information on a rather limited range of UK scholarships, charitable foundations and trusts.
UKCOSA: The Foreign & Commonwealth Office recently funded an update of the information formerly published by the Directory of Social Change about trust funding available for international students studying in the UK. The updated information is available on the UKCOSA website at: http://www.ukcosa.org.uk alongside other financial advice and links to information about scholarships.
University of London Postgraduate Studentships:
a) Central Research Fund (Postgraduate Studentships): The University has a wide range of Trusts available for the award of one or two-year Postgraduate Studentships in all areas for graduates of the University of London who are holders of a first degree of the University of London. Further details and application forms may be obtained from the Secretary to the Academic Trusts Funds Committee, University of London, Room 234, Senate House, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HU, United Kingdom
b) Central Research Fund (Grants): Applications are invited from members of the University (other than present undergraduate students and those registered for a taught Masters degree) for Research Grants to assist specific projects of research with the provision of expenses such as special materials, apparatus and travel costs. Forms of application and further particulars may be obtained from the Secretary to the Academic Trust Funds Committee, University of London, Room 234, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HU, United Kingdom.
Wingate Scholarships (http://www.wingate.org.uk) allow individuals in a wide variety of fields to pursue projects in an academic or a non-academic context. In many cases a Wingate Scholarship has allowed an outstanding individual the chance to realise a project that might not otherwise have been supported by more conventional funding bodies in the UK or Europe.
The Sir Edward Youde Memorial Fellowship: postgraduate scholarships to enable outstanding Hong Kong students between the ages of 21 and 30 to study overseas. Funds cover living expenses, tuition fees and one-way airfare. Recipients of the award are expect to return to work in Hong Kong for at least three years upon completion of their study programme. Further details from The Secretary, Sir Edward Youde Memorial Fund Council, Students’ Financial Assistance Agency, 9th Floor, National Mutual Centre, 151 Gloucester Road, Wan Chai, Hong Kong.
