Unless you’ve received some money from your fairy godmother or your parents are going to help you out, you are going to have to find some way to cover the cost of your postgraduate study.
Funding through the Research Councils
Though there may not be much in the way of funding for postgraduate students, there is some, and it is worth having a hunt around for. Postgrad finds two sources you may not yet have considered.
Whilst the biggest providers of funding are the seven Research Councils, offering around 11,000 awards each year to postgrads, you should not pin all your hopes on securing funding from one of them.
Competition for Research Council funding is fierce and some of the Councils’ (Arts and Humanities and Economic and Social Research) deadlines for applications have already passed.
That said, it is worth keeping your eye on the individual Council’s websites, as there may still be some funding on offer. But a better approach would be to look for alternative funding sources now.
Postgraduate funding through the University
A good place to start is with the university in which you intend to study. Most UK higher education institutions offer some scholarships and awards.
Scholarships and awards vary considerably from institution to institution.
Sometimes awards are provided in certain subjects at certain times. Some institutions offer full-fee studentships plus a maintenance grant. Others provide smaller bursaries to alleviate financial hardship.
How Alex Burns got his funding for postgraduate study
Adam Burns is completing an MSc by Research in History at the University of Edinburgh. He is paying for his course using money awarded to him by the university.
‘I was fortunate enough to receive a scholarship from the university to pay my tuition fees and a studentship from the Department of History and Classics, which helped with living costs.
I discovered the information about potential funding opportunities from the University of Edinburgh’s website, which proved very useful indeed.’
The University of Edinburgh has a number of awards on offer for postgraduate students, including the University of Edinburgh UK/EU Master’s Scholarship, which is available for up to eight UK and EU students who have been accepted to study on a one-year full-time Masters programme at the university.
The university has also just introduced the University of Edinburgh UK/EU postgraduate Adult Returner Bursaries, which have been set up to assist with childcare costs.
A charitable offer
Another source of funding, which you may not have considered, is charities, foundations and trusts.
Charities, foundations and trusts range in size from the Wellcome Trust, the world’s largest medical charity which awards hundreds of studentships each year in the UK, Ireland and the Netherlands, to the British Federation of Women Graduates, which offers a small number of cost of living bursaries for female postgraduates in the second year of their research degree.
The types of scheme available include studentships, scholarships, grants, bursaries, competitions and prizes. Some awards are dedicated to a particular purpose while others have very general eligibility criteria.
For example, there are awarding bodies established for the purpose of supporting the work of UK students in other countries or students of a particular ethnicity. There are bodies which make several hundred awards a year and those that make just one.
Chris Baker used a medical charity for funding his study
Medical charities can be a vital source of finance for postgraduate scientists, as Chris Baker found out. After completing a degree in Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry at the University of Oxford, Chris decided he wanted to work in research. He is currently completing a PhD working for Cancer Research UK (CRUK).
‘During my first degree, I undertook a 12-week project in a laboratory, which I really enjoyed, and I wanted to do more research, so a PhD seemed the most logical way to continue with this.
‘I received an email whilst at Oxford, which was advertising a PhD position at a CRUK centre in University College London, so I had a look at their website and found it was a laboratory whose work I was interested in.
‘Of the three places I applied to, this seemed to suit my needs the most. I picked this place purely on the facilities and type of work I would be involved in at Cancer Research UK.
I also receive a stipend of £15,700 a year from CRUK, which covers all my living expenses. My tuition fees (£3,000) at the university are also covered by CRUK.
