The Cambridge Trust International Scholarship supports prospective PhD students from countries other than the UK or Ireland. Recipients may study any subject at any Cambridge College, either full-time or part-time.
Selection is based on academic ability, research potential, examination results and references, and prospective departments must rank candidates highly. Financial circumstances do not affect selection for this award.
Benefits & funding
- University tuition fees at the international rate for the course length.
- Annual maintenance sufficient for one person for the course length.
- The Student Immigration Health Surcharge.
- Approximately 63 awards were listed for the 2026/27 award year.
- The optional PhD writing-up period is not automatically funded; scholars may apply for up to six additional months of maintenance.
Eligibility
- Prospective PhD applicants from any country except the United Kingdom and Ireland, with Overseas fee status.
- Applicants may pursue any subject at any Cambridge College, full-time or part-time.
- A prospective department must rank the applicant highly. Selection considers academic ability, research potential, examination results and references.
- The applicant must submit by the relevant course funding deadline, request funding in the admissions application and receive a conditional offer.
- Cambridge Trust normally does not support a qualification at the same or a lower level than one already held, or an applicant already part-way through a Cambridge course, except when applying for a higher degree after graduation.
Can you apply?
Here's who can apply
Decoded from the official rules. A free account checks them against your passport, degree and age in seconds.
Eligible nationalities
Afghanistan · Albania · Algeria · Andorra · Angola · Antigua and Barbuda · Argentina · Armenia · Australia · Austria · Azerbaijan · Bahamas
+ 183 more
Bahrain · Bangladesh · Barbados · Belarus · Belgium · Belize · Benin · Bhutan · Bolivia · Bosnia and Herzegovina · Botswana · Brazil · Brunei · Bulgaria · Burkina Faso · Burundi · Cabo Verde · Cambodia · Cameroon · Canada · Central African Republic · Chad · Chile · China · Colombia · Comoros · Republic of the Congo · Costa Rica · Côte d'Ivoire · Croatia · Cuba · Cyprus · Czechia · DR Congo · Denmark · Djibouti · Dominica · Dominican Republic · Ecuador · Egypt · El Salvador · Equatorial Guinea · Eritrea · Estonia · Eswatini · Ethiopia · Fiji · Finland · France · Gabon · Gambia · Georgia · Germany · Ghana · Greece · Grenada · Guatemala · Guinea · Guinea-Bissau · Guyana · Haiti · Honduras · Hungary · Iceland · India · Indonesia · Iran · Iraq · Israel · Italy · Jamaica · Japan · Jordan · Kazakhstan · Kenya · Kiribati · Kosovo · Kuwait · Kyrgyzstan · Laos · Latvia · Lebanon · Lesotho · Liberia · Libya · Liechtenstein · Lithuania · Luxembourg · Madagascar · Malawi · Malaysia · Maldives · Mali · Malta · Marshall Islands · Mauritania · Mauritius · Mexico · Micronesia · Moldova · Monaco · Mongolia · Montenegro · Morocco · Mozambique · Myanmar · Namibia · Nauru · Nepal · Netherlands · New Zealand · Nicaragua · Niger · Nigeria · North Korea · North Macedonia · Norway · Oman · Pakistan · Palau · Palestine · Panama · Papua New Guinea · Paraguay · Peru · Philippines · Poland · Portugal · Qatar · Romania · Russia · Rwanda · Saint Kitts and Nevis · Saint Lucia · Saint Vincent and the Grenadines · Samoa · San Marino · São Tomé and Príncipe · Saudi Arabia · Senegal · Serbia · Seychelles · Sierra Leone · Singapore · Slovakia · Slovenia · Solomon Islands · Somalia · South Africa · South Korea · South Sudan · Spain · Sri Lanka · Sudan · Suriname · Sweden · Switzerland · Syria · Taiwan · Tajikistan · Tanzania · Thailand · Timor-Leste · Togo · Tonga · Trinidad and Tobago · Tunisia · Türkiye · Turkmenistan · Tuvalu · Uganda · Ukraine · UAE · USA · Uruguay · Uzbekistan · Vanuatu · Vatican City · Venezuela · Vietnam · Yemen · Zambia · Zimbabwe
Education required
PhD
Circlebreaker is a free database of global fellowships, scholarships and programs — every one decoded like this.
We only check the criteria we have data for. Always confirm full eligibility on the official page before applying.
Application process
- 1Choose an eligible Cambridge PhD course and check its funding deadline in the Postgraduate Course Directory.
- 2Submit the complete admissions application, including references, by that course funding deadline.
- 3In the Applicant Portal funding section, select “Yes – I wish to apply for funding”. No separate scholarship application or additional portal questions are required.
- 4If the department ranks the application highly and Cambridge issues a conditional offer, the application can proceed to scholarship consideration.
Program timeline
2 December 2025 or 7 January 2026
Course-specific funding deadline for 2026/27 entry.
Cambridge Trust awards period.
Beginning of March to end of July 2026