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Faculty of Divinity

 
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Funding Graduate Study at Cambridge

The offer of a postgraduate place at the Faculty of Divinity is not the same as an offer of funding. Many of our graduate students are self-funded or supported by external sponsors. But the Faculty does have a range of scholarships and bursaries available to support the fees and maintenance costs of graduate students, and also submits candidates in the various funding competitions within the University of Cambridge (Gates Cambridge, AHRC Doctoral Training Partnership, and Cambridge Trust).

Funding opportunities are limited in number and highly competitive, but all applicants offered a place will be considered by the Faculty’s Studentships Committee for any Faculty awards or University funding competitions for which they are eligible, unless they have explicitly indicated on their application form that they do not wish to be considered. (However, please note that eligibility for Gates Cambridge awards depends on explicit application subject to special deadlines.) The deliberations and recommendations of the Faculty’s Studentships Committee will be based solely on academic considerations (academic record and references, assessment of submitted written work, and quality and feasibility of research proposal where relevant).

The following are among the studentships offered from time to time as resources permit:

  • Crosse Studentship (Scriptures in Greek and Hebrew, Ecclesiastical History or Christian Theology)
  • Peregrine Maitland Studentship (Comparative Religion or World Christianities)     
  • Polonsky-Coexist Studentship  (Jewish Studies)
  • Burney Studentship (Philosophy of Religion)

The Faculty Studentships Committee also nominates candidates for the following University funding competitions (for further details follow the links below):

Please note that studentships or competitions are not open to those who have already started their course of graduate study at Cambridge except for those marked above with an asterisk.

AHRC Scholarships

If you wish to apply for AHRC funding please fill in the form on the Graduate Admissions' website.  Please take note of the following instructions:

Applicants applying for admission should complete this form and load it onto their CamSIS application.

Current M.Phil. students applying to the Ph.D. should complete this form and load it onto their CamSIS application to continue.

Current Ph.D. students should complete this form and send it to the .

 

Westminster College, Cambridge: Lewis and Gibson Scholarship

Mrs Margaret Dunlop Gibson (died 1920) and Mrs Agnes Smith Lewis (died 1926) bequeathed funds to establish Lewis and Gibson Scholarships at Westminster College, Cambridge. The funds presently realise (in 2014) about £7,300 per annum, and this income is administered by a Board of Electors under the authority of the College Governors and the General Assembly of the United Reformed Church.

The main terms and conditions of this scholarship include the following:

1. The scholar must be a member of the United Reformed Church, or of a member-church of the World Communion of Reformed Churches which holds Presbyterian order and is not established by the state.

2. The scholar should have been recognised by his or her church as a candidate for the ministry, but should not yet have been ordained.

3. The scholar is normally expected to be a graduate of a recognised university.

4. The scholar is required to reside in Cambridge, and to be a member of Westminster College.

5. The scholar is required to study for a degree or diploma (normally a degree) of Cambridge University. The Electors wish to encourage applications for the taught M.Phil. in theology, or from a doctoral student. The scholar must go through the University's own admission procedures: holding the scholarship does not guarantee admission; separate negotiations are needed.

6. The Electors are required to award the scholarship on merit.

The Electors now invite applications for the scholarship for the academic year 2015-16. The Electors are currently reviewing the terms and use of the scholarship, and so cannot guarantee extending this award beyond one year.

Applications for the scholarship in 2016-17 should be made as soon as possible, and at the latest before Christmas 2015. First send a brief note of enquiry to the address below, and you will be advised how to apply formally.

Contact Address for Enquiry or Application

The Director of Studies (Cambridge University)

Westminster College

Madingley Road

Cambridge

CB3 0AA

Email: 

Notes on finance and accommodation

Students coming to Cambridge University will need funds to cover the following: (i) university Composition Fee; (ii) university college fee; (iii) maintenance and living costs. The income of the scholarship therefore cannot cover the full academic and living expenses of a graduate student. The student would need to have substantial financial support from elsewhere. Cambridge graduate students are not allowed to combine full-time study with a part-time job.

A student who came to Cambridge alone would be welcome to apply for a room in the Westminster residential block, and we also have a few flats that are suitable for a couple. Family accommodation can be more difficult to arrange and quite expensive.