Getting funding

Melissa RIG2013 posters 590

If you apply before the relevant funding deadline and then receive a conditional offer from us, you will be ranked alongside other eligible applicants for the University funding competitions. There are a small number of scholarships available, for both UK and overseas applicants. To be considered for these, you must also complete the relevant parts of the application form, and we advise doing this in consultation with your prospective supervisor – it is important for your statements to show how your application meets each funder’s criteria. These funding sources include:

  • The Gates Cambridge Trust, who assess not only outstanding intellectual ability, but also a commitment to improving the lives of others, and leadership potential. Your Gates statement on your application form must show evidence for these criteria. US Gates Deadline:15 October 2025
  • The Cambridge Trust administers a range of funds for UK and international students. University Funding Competition Department Deadline:07 January 2026. This includes Cambridge trust, Gates Cambridge and many other funding opportunities.*
  • Alexander Crummell PhD scholarships for UK (home fee) applicants of black or mixed-black ethnicity. Deadline: 07 January 2026
  • PhD studentships from the Harding Distinguished Postgraduate Scholars’ Programme Deadline: 07 January 2026
  • Studentships for eligible African applicants in the broad area of climate resilience and sustainability, from Mastercard Foundation.
  • The Loke CTR sponsors fully funded 4-year PhD studentship at home rates, with available PhD projects advertised on our website. Each project is jointly supervised by two Loke CTR research groups, providing interdisciplinary PhD training in placental and reproductive biology. Deadline TBC.

*For more information please review the University Postgraduate Funding Search page and the Postgraduate School of Life Sciences Funding  page. 

Applicants are also encouraged to access external sources of scholarship funding from their home countries. In recent years we have had students with such funding from China, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, among others.

There are also some specialised University funds which need a special application. We cannot cover all possible funding sources here, but the University of Cambridge Graduate Prospectus web pages cover the subjects of funding and costs in detail. We also encourage students to explore the Postgraduate Student Funding Search. The School of Biological Sciences website also has information on funds and Fellowships specifically in biology and medicine.

Doctoral Training Partnerships

The Department of Genetics is a member of three of the UK Research Council Doctoral Training Partnerships in the University. Along with world class research training, the DTPs provide training programmes for professional and personal development and offer a cohort-based environment for your research degree embedded in the wider Cambridge research community. Entry to these programs is normally decided by the programs themselves, rather than by the Department. You may wish to discuss with your prospective supervisor whether to apply to any of these as well as applying directly to the Department. Details of the programs can be found at the links provided below.

Three of the Research Councils provide funding to support research in the Life Sciences at the University of Cambridge:

For further information specific to the Department of Genetics please email our Postgraduate Administrator at pgadm@gen.cam.ac.uk