- RES & RXD Scholarships
Each year, UCL awards a limited number of Research Excellence Scholarships (for home/EU students as well as international students) to PhD applicants across the university. These awards cover students' tuition fees, offer a maintenance stipend, and provide additional funding to pay research expenses.
The RES awards are allocated by faculty. The department is asked to put forward a shortlist of candidates to a faculty board, who will then select the most promising candidates from the full list of those nominated. In all cases, the scholarships are allocated on the basis of academic merit rather than financial necessity.
- Wolfson Scholarships
The Faculty of Social and Historical Sciences will offer three awards for the 2025/26 academic year.
The Wolfson Scholarships welcome applicants from both the UK and abroad. Nominations are submitted by the department and subsequently managed at the Faculty level.
The awards are available for doctoral research only and will be paid over three years (or up to six years part-time). This includes full tuition fees (either Home or Overseas) plus a maintenance stipend. Full-time students are expected to complete their doctorate in three years.
Students should have an outstanding academic record, usually a first-class honours degree at the undergraduate level and a Master's degree from a recognised university in a field of study relevant to their proposed doctoral research.
Applicants wishing to be considered for nomination for the Wolfson scholarship should apply in the system before 3 Jan 2025 (inclusive of transcripts and references) and email the PGR Admin at c.tilsley@ucl.ac.uk to inform them that they should be added to the Wolfson applicants' list while attaching the following documents:
a CV, if not attached to the programme application in the applicant portal (if included in the programme application please state so in your email to the PGR admin) a personal statement, if not attached to the programme application in the applicant portal (if included in the programme application, please state so in your email to the PGR admin).
Please make sure your programme application references have both been submitted to the system by the referees by 3 Jan 2025.
an expanded outline of the research of no more than 2 pages, which does not need to contain references or bibliography, a letter from the proposed supervisor confirming that they are willing to supervise the specific project outlined – or an email stating that the supervisor is willing to provide this in a short turnaround if you are nominated for the next stage.
- UCL Research Opportunity Scholarship (UCL-ROS)
UCL's Research Opportunity Scholarship (UCL-ROS) is intended to support BAME postgraduate research degree students. There are seven scholarships for the 2025-26 academic year.
Available to: Prospective and current students
Selection criteria: Academic merit and financial need
Eligibility criteria: UK-permanent residents from certain BAME ethnic groups:
Black or Black British - Caribbean Black or Black British - African Other Black background Asian or Asian British - Bangladeshi Asian or Asian British - Pakistani1. Submit an application for admission to the History research degree programme.
2. Please make sure you have your supervisor's in-principle approval handy, as they will need to submit a letter confirming that they are willing to supervise your project. Please note the Institute for the Americas, Institute of Archaeology, and History of Art are separate UCL departments, and they run their own degree programmes. If your preferred supervisor belongs to one of the mentioned departments, please check their webpage for specific information.
3. Complete an application form and send it via email to c.tilsley@ucl.ac.uk
The deadline was Friday, 3 Jan 2025.
These scholarships are not awarded by the department or Faculty. All applications from the department will be sent to the Faculty for consideration. They will be reviewed and shortlisted by a faculty panel based on academic merit. This will happen by February 2024, with final decisions made in March 2024. The panel will meet in March 2025, and applicants will be notified of final decisions in April 2025.
The benefits that UCL-ROS scholars can look forward to are full tuition fees and a maintenance stipend (rate for 2024/25 to be confirmed) for up to 3 years (excludes CRS). Value-added benefits such as coaching, mentoring, training and skills development.
- AHRC Funding
UCL History is part of the LAHP (London Arts and Humanities Partnership), a group of London institutions (UCL, KCL, LSE, QMUL, the Royal College of Art, the Royal College of Music, Central School of Speech and Drama and the School of Advanced Study) which between them share an allocation of studentships for doctoral research in the arts and humanities. These scholarships are provided by the AHRC (the Arts and Humanities Research Council), and they cover tuition fees, maintenance, and an allowance for research expenses. The LAHP scholarships are available to UK students (fees and maintenance) and EU students (fees only).
The department does not shortlist candidates for the LAHP. Instead, the LAHP funding has its own process, which requires the completion of a separate application form. The deadline for applications will be 5pm on Friday, 31 January 2025 (GMT). A panel of academics from the three LAHP institutions will consider all these applications and allocate scholarships to those which they believe to be academically strongest. However, to be considered for LAHP funding, you must have applied for a place at UCL before the deadline and have received an offer by the end of February 2025.
Please inform your intended supervisors and the department (via c.tilsley@ucl.ac.uk) of your intention to apply no later than Friday, 3 January 2025, so they have time to submit the supervisor statement before the LAHP deadline. Please submit an application for admission to the History research degree programme before that date, so the supervisor can provide a statement after reading your proposed research project and external references.
- UBEL/ESRC Funding
Some History PhD students may be eligible for funding from the ESRC (Economic and Social Research Council). UCL is part of the UBEL doctoral training partnership, along with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, the School of Oriental and African Studies, Birkbeck, and the University of East London. UBEL-DTP scholarships cover tuition fees, maintenance, and an allowance for research expenses. They are available to UK students (fees and maintenance) and EU students (fees only).
The department does not shortlist candidates for the UBEL-DTP. Instead, the UBEL funding has its own process, which requires the completion of a separate application form. A panel of academics from the UBEL institutions will consider all these applications and allocate scholarships to those which they believe to be academically strongest.
You will also need to complete a separate UBEL-DTP application.
UBEL deadlines:
30 September 2024 Survey Monkey Apply opens for Preliminary applications 2 December 2024 Deadline for Preliminary applications 31 January 2025 Full application deadline Mid-April 2025 Candidates informed of full outcome
- Departmental Scholarships
The History department also offers two smaller scholarships for which PGR students are eligible: the Richard Chattaway Scholarship, which is awarded each year to a postgraduate student working on the history of modern warfare (preferably from 1870 onward) and has a value of £2,000; and the Carol Chattaway Scholarship, which is awarded annually to a postgraduate scholar in medieval historical studies and has a value of £2,500. Preference is given to mature students and female students for this award.
Both the Chattaway Scholarships have later deadlines (usually in Spring/Summer). We will update this page with the new deadlines as soon as they become available.
- Other Funding Sources
UCL History PGR students draw funding from a number of sources. Most commonly, these include those listed above, but you may also wish to consider the following funding schemes, all of which have their own application processes. In any case, where you may require a supporting statement from your potential supervisor at UCL, we recommend that you contact this supervisor as early as possible in advance of the deadline so that they can help you strengthen your research proposal and so that they have plenty of time to write your reference.
The Alternative Guide to Postgraduate Funding.
The university also offers various smaller scholarships, some of which may be available only to specific groups (e.g., those from particular countries or working on particular topics). To find out more about these, you can access the UCL scholarship finder.