Commonwealth Split-site PhD Scholarships 2023/2024 (Fully-Funded)

Deadline: March 2, 2023

Funded by the UK Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), Commonwealth Split-site Scholarships enable talented and motivated individuals to gain the knowledge and skills required for sustainable development, and are aimed at those who could not otherwise afford to study in the UK.

They offer PhD scholars studying at eligible universities across the Commonwealth the opportunity to conduct research at an institute in the UK for 12 months. Commonwealth Split-site Scholarships are offered under six CSC Development themes.

Scholarship

Each Scholarship provides:

Approved airfare from your home country to the UK and return at the end of your award (the CSC will not reimburse the cost of fares for dependants, nor the cost of journeys made before your award is confirmed)
Approved tuition fees: full fees are covered by an agreement between the CSC and the UK university, and Scholars are not liable to pay for any part of the tuition fee
Stipend (living allowance) at the rate of £1,236 per month, or £1,516 per month for those at universities in the London metropolitan area (rates quoted at current levels)
Warm clothing allowance, where applicable
Study travel grant towards the cost of study-related travel within the UK or overseas
If you are widowed, divorced, or a single parent, a child allowance of £529 per month for the first child, and £131 per month for the second and third child under the age of 16, if you are accompanied by your children and they are living with you at the same address in the UK.

Eligibility

Scholars must:

Be a citizen of or have been granted refugee status by an eligible Commonwealth country, or be a British Protected Person
Be permanently resident in an eligible Commonwealth country
Be registered for a PhD at a university in an eligible Commonwealth country by the time your Scholarship starts (September 2023)
Ensure that an institutional or departmental link exists between your home university and your proposed UK university. This link must be greater than simply a collaboration between individuals – see the section on ‘Tenure and placement’ for further details. Both supervisors must provide a supporting statement that provides further details of the link to ensure your application is eligible.
Be available to start your academic studies in the UK in September 2023
By September 2023, hold a first degree of at least upper second class (2:1) honors standard, or a lower second class degree and a relevant postgraduate qualification (usually a Master’s degree)
Be unable to afford to study in the UK without this Scholarship.

Selection process

Applications will be considered according to the following selection criteria:

Academic merit of the candidate
Quality of the plan of study
Potential impact on the development of the candidate’s home country.

Application

In the application form, candidates are asked to:

List all undergraduate and postgraduate university qualifications obtained
List up to 10 publications and prizes
Provide details of employment history and explain how each job is relevant to the programme to be undertaken in the UK
Provide a statement on how previous work experience is relevant to the proposed Scholarship
List names and positions of three referees who are qualified to comment on both the candidate’s capacity to benefit from the proposed Scholarship in the UK and the candidate’s ability to deliver development impact afterward. One of your referees must be a current employer (if applicable)
Provide a Development Impact statement in 4 parts.

The closing date for applications, including all supporting documentation, is March 2, 2023, at 16:00 GMT.