Applications are invited for Commonwealth academic fellowships available for early-career academics from developing Commonwealth countries.  Fellowships provide early-career academics with the opportunity to plan, conduct, or write research, to encourage applications from universities where capacity building is a priority, and to enhance knowledge, skills, and contacts in Fellows’ given disciplines.

These fellowships are funded by the UK Department for International Development (DFID), with the aim of contributing to the UK’s international development aims and wider overseas interests, supporting excellence in UK higher education, and sustaining the principles of the Commonwealth.

The Commonwealth Scholarship and Fellowship Plan (CSFP) is one of the largest and most prestigious scholarship schemes for international study in the world. Since it was established in 1959, around 34,000 individuals have benefited – 26,000 of them have held awards funded by the UK government, managed by the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission in the United Kingdom (CSC).

Brief Description

University or Organization: The Association of Commonwealth Universities
Department: NA
Course Level: Postgraduate qualification
Award: Varies
Access Mode: Online
Number of Awards: NA
Nationality: Citizens of developing Commonwealth country
The program can be taken in the UK
Application Deadline: Closed

Eligibility

To apply for these fellowships, applicants must:

• Be a Commonwealth citizen, refugee, or British protected person
• Be permanently resident in a developing Commonwealth country
• Be employed by a university in a developing Commonwealth country
• Be available to start your fellowship in the UK on 1 October 2017. Any other start date will be permitted only in exceptional circumstances
• Have been awarded your Ph.D. between two and ten years prior to October 2019
• The CSC promotes equal opportunity, gender equity, and cultural exchange. Applications are encouraged from a diverse range of candidates.
• Fellowships provide early-career academics with the opportunity to plan, conduct, or write research, to encourage applications from universities where capacity building is a priority, and to enhance knowledge, skills, and contacts in Fellows’ given disciplines.
• Fellowships are awarded for early-career academics to spend three months undertaking research and updating their skills at any approved UK university or higher education institution.
• Not have previously held a Commonwealth Academic Fellowship within five years

and

• Have been awarded your Ph.D. by a UK university while on a Commonwealth Scholarship

or

• Be in the employment of your nominating university

Nationality: Citizens of developing Commonwealth country (Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Botswana, Cameroon, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Falkland Islands, Gambia, Ghana, Gibraltar, Grenada, Guyana, India, Jamaica, Kenya, Kiribati, Lesotho, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritius, Montserrat, Mozambique, Namibia, Nauru, Nigeria, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Rwanda, St Helena, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and The Grenadines, Samoa, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Swaziland, Tanzania, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands, Tuvalu, Uganda, Vanuatu, Virgin Islands (British) and Zambia) can apply for these Commonwealth academic fellowships.

Government Scholarships

How to Apply

• How to Apply: If they have previously held a Commonwealth Ph.D. Scholarship funded by the CSC and meet the eligibility criteria for these fellowships, applicants can apply directly to the CSC. Applicants must make your application using the CSC’s Electronic Application System (EAS).
• Admission Requirement: Applicants must hold a first degree of at least upper second class (2:1) honors standard, or a second class degree and relevant postgraduate qualification (usually a Master’s degree).
• Language Requirements: Applicants from outside the home country will often need to meet specific English language/other language requirements in order to be able to study there.

Benefit: Each fellowship provides:

• Approved airfare from your home country to the UK and return at the end of your award (the CSC will not reimburse the cost of fares for dependants, nor usually the cost of journeys made before your award is finally confirmed)
• Research support grant, at a fixed rate according to your subject, payable to your host university
• Stipend (living allowance) at the rate of £1,594 per month, or £1,977 per month for those at universities in the London metropolitan area (rates quoted at 2016-2017 levels)
• Grant towards the cost of preparing reports and other written work
• Arrival allowance
• Study travel grant towards the costs of approved travel within the UK or overseas
• If you are widowed, divorced, or a single parent, child allowance of £448 per month for the first child, and £110 per month for the second and third child under the age of 16, if you are accompanied by your children and solely legally responsible for them. The level of financial support provided through family allowances is under review and subject to change in both eligibilities.

Electronic Application System

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