Apply for Fully funded 2025/2026 Commonwealth PhD scholarships
Application deadline: October 15,2024
The 2025–2026 Commonwealth PhD Scholarships, applications are now being accepted. Commonwealth PhD scholarships is a program funded by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), the aim is to promote research that will have an influence on the development of Commonwealth nations.
Applications for full-time PhD study at a UK university from least developed countries and vulnerable states—as defined by the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC)—are invited to apply for Commonwealth PhD scholarships.
The UK government’s scholarship program, which is focused on international development goals, is offered by the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission (CSC). It is a striking illustration of the UK’s ongoing dedication to the commonwealth and works under the auspices of the Commonwealth Scholarship and Fellowship Plan (CSFP). The work of the CSC integrates ecological growth with the UK national interest and offers prospects for international partnerships and collaboration by taking individuals with exceptional talent and identifiable potential from all backgrounds and assisting them in becoming entrepreneurs and visionaries upon their return home.
Scholarships
Regardless of which you get, every scholarship comes with the following benefits:
– Authorized flight from the recipient’s home country to the UK and back at the conclusion of the award; the CSC will not pay for dependents’ tickets or for travel expenses incurred prior to the grant being confirmed.
– Authorized tuition fees: Scholars are not required to pay any portion of the tuition fee because the CSC and the UK university have a deal covering the whole cost of tuition.
– A living stipend (living allowance) of £1,378 per month (rates indicated at current levels) or £1,690 per month for students attending universities in the London metropolitan area.
– Any appropriate provision for warm clothing.
– A study-travel award to help pay for study-related domestic or international travel.
Amount allotted, if authorized, to cover the expense of conducting fieldwork abroad (one economy class return ticket to the study site).
– Paid mid-term visit (flights) to the scholar’s home country, unless the scholar has already received a return ticket home for fieldwork or has declared or plans to declare spouse and/or kid allowances during their scholarship.
– The following family allowance amounts (stated at current levels)
If a scholar is traveling with their spouse but does not have children, they will receive a monthly allowance of £297 for the spouse and £297 for the first kid, £146 for the second and third children under 16, and £297 for the first child if they live at the same home.
(Unless their spouse receives a scholarship as well; other requirements apply).
In the event that a scholar is joined by their spouse and children, they will receive a monthly allowance of £297 for the spouse and £297 for the first child, £146 for the second and third children under 16, and £297 for the first child if they live at the same UK address (unless their spouse is also receiving a scholarship; additional conditions also apply).
A child allowance of £590 per month for the first child and £146 per month for the second and third under the age of sixteen is provided to Scholars who are widowed, divorced, or single parents. These conditions are applicable provided their children live with them in the same address in the UK.
Eligibility
To be eligible for this fellowship, candidates must
– be either British Protected Persons or citizens of a Commonwealth nation that has granted them refugee status.
– have a permanent address in a Commonwealth nation that qualifies.
– be prepared to begin academic studies in the UK by September 2025, when the UK academic year officially begins.
– have at least an upper second-class (2:1) honors first degree by September 2025, or a lower second-class degree plus an appropriate postgraduate certification (typically a master’s degree).
– not be enrolled in a PhD program in a UK university or in their home country prior to September/October 2025, or an MPhil program leading to a PhD.
– lack the funds to study in the UK in the absence of this scholarship.
You have given all necessary supporting documents in the appropriate format.
Selection Factors
The following criteria will be applied when evaluating applications:
– Academic achievements
– Research proposal quality.
– The candidate’s potential to influence the advancement of his or her own nation.
How to Apply
Applications for the Commonwealth PhD scholarships are now being accepted for the 2025–2026 school year. Applications must be submitted by October 15, 2024, at 16:00 BST/15:00 GMT. Scholarship recipients must begin their studies in the UK in September or October of 2025.
Because the online application system will be extremely active in the days preceding the application deadline, applicants are recommended to complete and submit their applications as early as feasible.
Applicants must apply to a CSC in addition to a nominee.
Three (3) different categories of nominees are asked to take part in the fellowship program:
– National Nominating Agencies: the primary application pathway
– Selected universities or university bodies that have the authority to propose academic staff members.
– Selected nonprofits and non-governmental organizations.
