SOAS Research Studentships

Key information

Deadline date
Amount
Tuition Fees and Maintenance Stipend

Scholarship overview

SOAS Research Studentships offers full-time MPhil/PhD scholarships to eligible Black British students and students based in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. 

SOAS University of London is committed to addressing inequalities in participation in doctoral degree programmes. We invite applications from Black British students as well as students based in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. As part of your application, please provide a short widening participation statement (maximum 800 words) in which you outline how you qualify under the eligibility criteria. 

You might wish to include obstacles, including disabilities, growing up in a lower-income family, or being the first in your family to go to university. Also, your widening participation statement should include why you wish to study at SOAS and how this scholarship and programme of study will impact/benefit your eventual career aims/community. 

Each scholarship covers tuition fees in full and includes a maintenance allowance, providing full financial support and doctoral skill development to successful recipients for a 3-year full-time programme. The total maintenance for 2025/26 will be confirmed closer to September 2025, but will provide a minimum of £20,622.

Eligible programmes

  • Any full-time MPhil/PhD programme beginning in the 2025/26 academic year

Candidate criteria

This scholarship is open to UK/EU/Home and International/Overseas fee-paying students. In order to be eligible, applicants should: 

  • Be permanent residents in the UK (Home fee status students) from the following ethnic groups: 
  • Black (Black or Black British African, Black or Black British Caribbean, Black or Black British other or Mixed Black or Black British) 

or 

  • Applicants who are ordinarily residents of Africa, Asia, or the Middle East. 
    Students who are members of the SOAS Ebony Initiative are also eligible for the Ebony Initiative studentships. Please indicate your participation in the Ebony Initiative programme on the appropriate section of the application form. 

There is one SOAS Research Studentship reserved for an applicant who is also a Palestinian national. To be eligible, applicants should meet the general candidate criteria, as well as being an ordinary resident of historic Palestine (Gaza Strip, West Bank, East Jerusalem, or Palestinian citizens in Israel).

  • Applicants must have an offer of admission to pursue one of the eligible full-time research programmes at SOAS by the time the scholarship selection panel takes place. 
  • If required, applicants must meet the English language condition of their offer of admission to study at SOAS as soon as possible but no later than 10 May 2025.  If your offer is conditional on English, please arrange your English test and ensure you meet the English requirements as soon as possible. 
  • The scholarship cannot be held along with any other major scholarship or studentship. 

Candidate assessment

  • Candidates will be assessed on academic merit by an Advisory Panel that has undergone diversity training and which consists of at least three academic members from Black and Minority Ethnic backgrounds. 
  • The assessment of your application will be based on the information provided in your scholarship and admission applications. Selectors will be looking at academic attainment as demonstrated by prior results, references, publications and research proposal, as well as the widening participation statement. 
  • You must submit a complete application of your programme as soon as possible and then submit an application for this scholarship in order to be considered. Please note that complete applications for admissions can take up to 4 weeks to be considered by the Department, although this duration can vary depending on the time of the year. You should be prepared to wait up to 6 weeks in busy periods.  
  • Late or incomplete applications will not be considered.

Scholarship application procedures

To apply for this scholarship, applicants should follow the following steps:

Step 1:  Apply for your programme

  • To apply for an MPhil/PhD programme, please visit our Doctoral school. 
  • Guidance for applying to a Research Programme and information on makes a complete application can be found on the How to Apply webpage.

Step 2:  Apply for the scholarship

You must apply for this scholarship by 12:00pm (midday) UK local time on 21 March 2025 via the online application form.

Notification of results

The scholarship shortlisting and awarding period is expected to be completed by the end of May at the earliest. Successful candidates will be contacted first, and once all awards have been allocated, unsuccessful candidates will be notified. 

Should no suitable candidates be nominated by the panel, this award may reopen for applications in May 2025. Please check this webpage for updates during this period to confirm whether the award is open for applications or contact the Scholarships Team at scholarships@soas.ac.uk.

Enquiries

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