Phd grant awarded
Posted on 20 June 2016
Ghazal, who has received the £1,000 grant to complete her doctoral studies at York, is researching undergraduate student’s perceptions of identity, rights and duties in relation to fiction.
She found out about the Charles Wallace Pakistan Trust through a fellow PhD colleague in the UK who had received grants from the Trust in the past.
Ghazal said, “My supervisor’s reference letter was detailed and insightful and I think that along with my research project’s summary helped me to achieve the grant”.
She advises, “Anyone who wishes to apply for a grant should search for doctoral bursaries and educational trusts. There are specific funds such as those for women graduates, for students from Asia, Muslim students etc. Most of these trusts require applicants to be at a specific stage of their project so you should start checking early on and save the dates. Following the specific criteria given by the awarding body always helps - for example, CWT had requested that the reference letter should comment on three specific aspects and my supervisor put those as three headings in my reference letter and commented with an individual paragraph on each.”
Doctoral students can be eligible for supplementary funding from educational charities and trusts to support their needs while completing their research in a UK institution. Payments are often for particular items (eg equipment, tools, field study trip) or for a specific purpose (eg childcare, or payment to help make the difference between whether they complete their programme or not).
Although extremely competitive, students who can demonstrate both academic excellence and financial need (these two are the requirements most often cited by trusts and charities) may be awarded a once-off, or a recurring grant.
The UK-registered Charles Wallace Trusts were established in 1981 with funds bequeathed by Charles Wallace, a British entrepreneur who grew his successful company in India in the late 19th century.
Trusts were set up for India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Burma/Myanmar - with the purpose of assisting the nationals of those countries to obtain education and professional development in the United Kingdom:
The Charles Wallace Pakistan Trus
The Charles Wallace Bangladesh Trust
The Charles Wallace Burma Trust
The Charles Wallace India Trust
Several publications contain details of the trusts and charities that provide doctoral bursaries. These include:
• The Educational Grants Directory
• The Directory of Social Change’s Guide to Educational Grants
• A Guide to Grants for Individuals in Need
• Directory of Grant Making Trusts