Postgraduate research is crucial for understanding and solving complex global problems

Postgraduate Scholarships

Hong Kong and Singapore Scholarships | The Pillman Fund | Dr Carlo Acerini Memorial Fund

The opportunity to study for a postgraduate degree at Cambridge needs to be available to the most talented students in order for original, ground-breaking research to take place. There is a global demand from businesses to academia for talented scholars with higher degrees. Yet funding for postgraduate education for both UK and International students is limited. 

Girton is committed to growing our postgraduate numbers in line with the University’s same strategic objective. Last year 11 postgraduate students received scholarships from Girton. But up to 40% of applicants could not take up an offer. To enable many more talented scholars (including some of our own undergraduates) who wish to embrace the challenge of completing a higher degree in Cambridge and at Girton, we need to be able to offer more funding in the way of scholarships.

Alumni have given generously, exceeding our target by endowing 10 partial postgraduate scholarships in A Great Campaign. It would be fantastic to support more postgraduate students, and by raising funds to endow more scholarships we can begin to bridge the postgraduate funding gap.

Help us accelerate the careers of some outstanding scholars and create a better world by donating to our Postgraduate Scholarship Funds.

New postgraduate awards for applicants from the Asia Pacific region

We are delighted to announce three new postgraduate awards of up to £10,000 a year for applicants from the Asia Pacific region who are applying to Girton College and the University of Cambridge.

The Chan and Mok Scholarship is for permanent residents of Hong Kong (with a first priority for those who have studied at Po Leung Kuk schools) who wish to study for a Master’s degree – at Girton and the University of Cambridge.

The Girton Hong Kong Founders’ Scholarship is open to permanent residents of Hong Kong who wish to undertake postgraduate study – whether Master’s or PhD – at Girton and the University of Cambridge.

You can donate to the Hong Kong Founder's Scholarship directly below, or if you are based in Hong Kong and would like to make a tax-efficient donation please contact The Friends of Cambridge University in Hong Kong, Ms Cannie Kwan at: kwanc@hkbea.com

The Singapore Scholarship is open to permanent residents of Singapore who wish to undertake postgraduate study – whether Master’s or PhD – at Girton and the University of Cambridge.

Thanks to our generous supporters we are delighted that this award has been established. Applications for the October 2023 intake will open later in the year. We would be delighted if you could inform your networks of this exciting opportunity for talented scholars from Singapore to join the College.

We are also delighted to announce that residents in Singapore can now make donations to the College tax-effectively via the Cambridge College Scholarships (Singapore) Ltd. Please email development@girton.cam.ac.uk or cantabscholarships@gmail.com for more details. 

Postgraduate Student Support

Over 74% of our postgraduate students are funded by student loans or through their own efforts, often piecing together financial support from various sources. Many of them struggle to fund their fees and living expenses. There is also an increasing need for extra funds to help them with research expenses (such as presenting at conferences or undertaking their research).

A gift to our postgraduate student support fund will help us to extend this support to more students who need it, both now, and for future generations of our postgraduate students. 

The Dr Carlo Acerini Memorial Fund for Academic Skills in Clinical Medicine

This fund in memory of Dr Carlo Acerini, an Official Fellow in Medicine at Girton from 2010 to 2019, supports academic skills for Girton’s clinical medical students. The costs of studying medicine are significant and the NHS medical bursary (for the 5th and 6th year of the course) has been cut substantially. Clinical medical students are at increased risk of financial hardship, particularly as their course covers the whole year and they cannot get holiday jobs to supplement their bursary. Furthermore as the economic impact of the cost-of living crisis continues, more of our students are finding themselves facing financial difficulty.

By donating toward this fund, you will help us to provide the much needed financial support for the most able medical students, particularly those from a low income background, to further their learning. This fund will be for academic skills in general, but with a focus on providing the opportunity for students to present their research as a poster at a national or international conference. This has widespread benefits at a relatively early stage in their career, and students who have been able to achieve this in the past have had overwhelmingly positive experiences.