The Physics & Astronomy Opportunity Scholarship
This scholarship aims to attract undergraduate students from a broad range of backgrounds to tackle the lack of Black representation within the Physics & Astronomy field.
The Opportunity Scholarship is a long-term project to attract students from a broader range of backgrounds to tackle the lack of Black representation in Physics & Astronomy. The scholarships are open to UK-domiciled students with home fee status who identify as Black pursuing an undergraduate degree at UCL. The scholarships will cover students’ full maintenance loans for the duration of their degree. The Opportunity Scholarship has been made possible by a generous legacy from a former UCL student.
Key Information
Value
An annual allowance to cover living and study expenses (£12,400 per annum), for the normal duration of the programme at UCL. This is equivalent to the full maintenance loan offered by the UK government for full-time students living in London. All Opportunity scholars will also receive on-going academic and career support during their study.
Number of awards
A maxiumum of two scholarships are available to students starting in September 2026.
Available to
Prospective students who identify as Black.
Level
Undergraduate.
Selection criteria
We will consider your educational, personal and financial circumstances. You will need to demonstrate these in your application. Assessment of applications will be made in relation to the eligibility criteria.
Deadline
19th June 2026
Background
The Department of Physics and Astronomy is committed to improving the representation and progression of Black, Asian and minority ethnic students (BAME) students.
As evidenced in our student data there is a noticeable representation gap in specific minority ethnicity groups, which carries through into all other avenues of progression, both postgraduate studies, and continuing issues with academic and industrial representation throughout the Physics & Astronomy sector.
The aim of this scholarship is therefore to tackle this gap by increasing the number of Black British students studying at undergraduate level to improve our pipeline of minority ethnic students progressing into more advanced study or industry. While there is no expectation that scholarship recipients will progress to further study or sector specific employment, raising awareness of Physics & Astronomy as an area of study for Black British students is important.
The creation of this scholarship is seen as an additional tool in our outreach programme, allowing us entry to more secondary schools and working to overcome negative perceptions of STEM subjects amongst students and parents. By providing this scholarship, we hope to use it to open doors and access audiences for outreach we may have found difficult previously.
Application Form
The application is an online form, which can be accessed here. Please note that form submissions cannot be altered once submitted. Please contact PhysAst.Scholarship@ucl.ac.uk if you wish to amend information after submission.
A PDF copy of the application form is available for download from the righthand column of this webpage. Please note that this should not be completed, we require submissions to be made through the online form. The PDF is for information only.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do you have any questions about The Physics & Astronomy Opportunity Undergraduate Scholarship? Read the frequently asked questions below. If you can’t find the answer to your question, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
Eligibility
The Opportunity Scholarship aims to enable Black identifying students which are underrepresented within Physics & Astronomy to pursue undergraduate students at UCL.
Candidates must:
- Be UK domiciled and home fee status, or be a forced migrant (as defined by UCL).
- Have not completed a degree either at UCL or elsewhere previously.
- Hold an offer of admission to study on one of Physics & Astronomy’s undergraduate degree programmes for the 2024/25 intake (commencing in September 2024).
- Identify as Black or Black British
- Come from a lower socio-economic background, as based on household income.
All our three and four-year undergraduate degree programmes are included. Please see full list below.
- BSc Astrophysics (3 years F510)
- BSc Physics (3 years F300)
- BSc Theoretical Physics (3 years F340)
- MSci Astrophysics (4 years F511)
- MSci Physics (4 years F303)
- MSci Theoretical Physics (4 years F345)
Candidates for this award must identify as one of the following ethnicities:
- Black or Black British - Caribbean
- Black or Black British – African
- Other Black background
- Mixed - Black African
- Mixed - Black Caribbean
You must meet our academic requirements for the degree. You must have received and accepted an offer to study an undergraduate programme in 2024/25 to be able to apply for an Opportunity scholarship. We will not assess your academic ability further.
Your UK domiciled and home fee status will be assessed by the Admissions teams and your offer letter will state what your fee status is.
Applying to the Opportunity Scholarship
Candidates applying for an Opportunity Undergraduate scholarship must have received an offer from UCL Physics & Astronomy to study an undergraduate programme starting in September 2024. You must have accepted your offer in order to apply to the Opportunity Scholarship.
No. Your offer can be unconditional or conditional.
Once you have accepted an offer from Physics & Astronomy you can submit your application for the Opportunity Scholarship. This will be an online application form, and no additional supporting documents are required. We will consider your educational, personal and financial circumstances. You will need to demonstrate these in your application form.
The selection panel will assess your application based on the information provided on your scholarship application form. The assessment of applications will be made in relation to the eligibility criteria.
The application is now open
20th June 2025
The successful applicants will be notified by email in July 2025. Those with conditional offers will need to meet the entry requirements in order to confirm their award allocation.
Scholarship Value
The Opportunity Scholarship is meant to cover the standard maintenance stipend and for 2024/25 is £13,348 per year.
You will be funded for the full length of your programme. This may be three or four years depending on your programme.
The award will be paid to you in three termly instalments (October, January and April).
There is no additional funding to cover relocation.
This is for information only. Please see the section titled ‘Application Form’ for the link to the online submission form.
Please direct all queries to PhysAst.Scholarship@ucl.ac.uk