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Registry

Scholarships and Bursaries

SOAS offers a wide-range of scholarships, bursaries and awards to support students undertaking our degree programmes.  A number of scholarships are also provided by the University of London, the British government and other external organisations.

The scholarships and other awards listed below are distributed through a competitive application process with respect to financial need and/or academic merit. The range of scholarships is diverse – some support students from specific countries or a group of countries, while others focus on particular courses of study or research.

We are working to increase the number of scholarships we provide to our students.  Please continue to check this website as new scholarships will be added in due course. 

Economics and Social Research Council (ESRC) Studentships - COMPETITION IS NOW CLOSED

The School of Oriental and African Studies has been awarded accreditation as a Doctoral Training Centre in partnership with Birkbeck, the Institute of Education and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

The Bloomsbury Doctoral Training Centre (DTC) is accredited by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) - one of only 21 such centres across the UK.

SOAS will lead or contribute to pathways in social anthropology, international development and politics and international studies.

SOAS Scholarships

Undergraduate Programmes
Taught Masters Programmes
  • The Ahmad Mustafa Abu-Hakima Bursary (programme must include studying the history of the modern Arab world) - CLOSED
  • AKS Postgraduate Bursary (in Korean Studies) - OPEN
  • Bernard Buckman Scholarship (MA Chinese Studies, for UK/EU fee paying students) - CLOSED
  • Commonwealth Shared Scholarship (for students from African Commonwealth countries) -  CLOSED
  • D.G.Hall Scholarship (Taught Masters programmes at SOAS, for applicants holding a Burma/Myanmar passport) - CLOSED
  • Felix Scholarships (for Indian students) -CLOSED
  • Ferguson Scholarships (for African nationals from an African Country) - CLOSED
  • HSBC SOAS Scholarships (MA Sinology & MA Chinese Literature, for UK/EU fee paying students) - CLOSED
  • Professor Stuart Wilson Scholarship (MA South East Asian Studies) -CLOSED
  • Standard Chartered Scholarships (for a range of full-time Taught Masters programmes. The programmes relate to Asia, Africa, and the Middle East/NorthAfrica) -CLOSED
  • Tibawi Trust Awards (for Palestinian students currently enrolled in a programme at SOAS) -CLOSED
  • SOAS Master's Scholarships - Faculty of Arts & Humanities  - (for any full-time taught masters programme in the Faculty of Arts & Humanities) -CLOSED
  • SOAS Master's Scholarships - Faculty of Language & Cultures (for the full-time MA Gender Studies, MA Postcolonial Studies, MA Linguistics, MA Applied Linguistics & Language Pedagogy, MA Language, Documentation and Description, MA Translation Theory and Practice (Asian and African Languages) - CLOSED
  • SOAS Master's Scholarships- Faculty of Law and Social Sciences (for any full-time master's programmes in the Department of Development Studies, Economics, Law, Politics & International Studies and Financial & Management Studies) - CLOSED
  • Tallow Chandlers and M. W Beer scholarship (MA) (MA Anthropology of Food, for UK/EU fee paying students) -CLOSED
  • William Ross Murray Scholarship (LLM, for students from a developing country) - CLOSED
MPhil/PhD Programmes
  • Award for Fieldwork (for students currently enrolled in an Mphil/PhD at SOAS) -OPEN
  • Aida Sulayman Arif Bursary in Art and Archaeology (for PhD students in need of the bursary to fund the completion of their thesis) - DEADLINE EXTENDED TO 21 MAY 2012
  • AKS Postgraduate Bursary (in Korean studies) - OPEN
  • Bloomsbury Colleges PhD Studentships - CLOSED. The Bloomsbury Colleges is a consortium of six University of London colleges. Applications are invited annually for two PhD studentships, each of 3 year's duration, where SOAS is the lead college. Each studentship will cover course fees (at the usual level for UK and EU studentships) and a student stipend. These scholarships encompass a wide range of topics spanning the biomedical and social sciences, reflecting the diversity of disciplines represented in the consortium. The studentships are available at SOAS for 2012-13 for the following two topics:
  1. "Tree product resources and food security in the Sahel region of Burkina Faso: assessing sustainability, seasonality and patterns of food consumption" in the Department of Financial and Management Studies.  Name of Lead Supervisor: Dr Nigel Poole (SOAS). Name of Co-Supervisor: Dr Alan Dangour (LSHTM)
  2. "Markets, migration and reconfigurations of child care arrangements within the family: private solutions and public policies" in the Department of Development Studies.  Name of Lead Supervisor: Prof. Naila Kabeer (SOAS).  Name of Co-Supervisor: Dr Jasmine Gideon (Birkbeck College)

Further details of these two studentships and information on the application process will be available here and on the Bloomsbury College website in December 2011. 

  1. Elisabeth Croll Scholarship for fieldwork in China (for students currently enrolled in an Mphil/PhD at SOAS planning to undertake fieldwork in China, including mainland China and Taiwan) - CLOSED
  2. Felix scholarships (for Indian students and one for a non-Indian student) - CLOSED
  3. Jit Kaur Babak&Chanchal Singh Babak Nottingham Research Award (in Punjabi/Sikh Studies or Punjabi/Urdu Literature, for students currently enrolled in an Mphil/PhD at SOAS) - OPEN
  4. The Jordan Travel Grant (for currently enrolled doctoral students in the Dept. of the Study of Religions at SOAS to help with travel expenses) -CLOSED
  5. Kamran Djam Scholarships (in Persian Language, Persian Literature and Iranian History) - OPEN
  6. Kayoko Tsuda Bursary (in Japanese studies, for students writing up their PhD dissertation in their 3rd or 4th year at SOAS) - OPEN
  7. NEW LCIRAH Studentship (Agriculture and health in low income countries- investigating farm household and wider interactions in Sub-Saharan Africa) -CLOSED
  8. Mo Ibrahim Foundation PhD Scholarships (in the field of Governance for Development in Africa, for African students) - COMPETITION WILL OPEN MID-NOVEMBER
  9. Meiji Jingu Japanese Studies Research (in Japanese studies)  - OPEN. Two awards are offered annually, either for existing PhD students at SOAS, or newly enrolling full-time MPhil students.  Students may be registered in any department, and be of any nationality, but must be working on some aspect of Japanese Studies.
  10. Nohoudh PhD Scholarships( For research on 'The integration of Muslims in British Society') CLOSED
  11. Ouseley Memorial Scholarship (for research that requires the use of any Middle Eastern or Asian language) - CLOSED
  12. SOAS Doctoral Scholarships (Faculty of Arts & Humanities only) - CLOSED. Any full-time or part-time MPhil/PhD programme (new admissions only) in the following subject areas:
    1. History / 2. Study of Religions / 3. Music / 4. Anthropology & Sociology / 5. Media and Film Studies / 6. Art and Archaeology
  13. SOAS Doctoral Scholarships (Faculty of Languages & Cultures only) -CLOSED. Any full-time or part-time MPhil/PhD programme (new admissions only) in the following subject areas:
    1. Linguistics / 2. Literary, Cultural or Postcolonial Studies (Asia, Africa, Middle East) / 3. Islamic Studies
  14. SOAS Doctoral Scholarships (Faculty of Law & Social Sciences only)- CLOSED  Any full-time or part time MPhil/PhD programme (new admissions only) in the following subject areas: 
    1. Development Studies / 2. Economics / 3. Financial and Management Studies / 4. Law / 5. Politics and International Studies
  15. SOAS Research Scholarships (for any full-time Mphil/PhD programme) -CLOSED  
  16. Tallow Chandlers and M W Beer Scholarship (PHD) - (MPhil/PhD Anthropology with a focus on a food-related topic, for UK/EU fee paying students) - CLOSED
  17. Tibawi Trust Awards (for Palestinian students currently enrolled in a programme at SOAS) - CLOSED
  18. Wolfson Scholarships (full-time Mphil/PhD programmes in Literature, Languages or History, for UK fee paying students) CLOSED

 

Funding provided by the British Government - How to apply for AHRC and ESRC studentships at SOAS

External Awards

These awards are not administered by SOAS.  Please contact the organisation directly for information on scholarships and application procedures.