Graduate Studentship

Nahrein Network-UCL graduate studentship in Iraqi heritage, archaeology and history. The scheme is now closed.

Overview

The Nahrein Network is pleased to announce our next fully funded MA/MSc + PhD studentship for Iraqi nationals, to be held at University College London in the Department of History, the Institute of Archaeology, or the Bartlett Institute for Sustainable Heritage. The list of participating Masters programmes in academic year 2024-25 is given below. 

The scholarship covers full university tuition fees plus an annual maintenance grant of £23,995.00 and access to research funds. It is tenable for the 2024-25 academic year, in the first instance for the duration of the student’s MA/MSc programme. Subject to satisfactory progress, the scholarship may be extended for a further three years to support full-time PhD research at UCL on a project related to the Nahrein Network’s aims. 

Eligibility Criteria 

To be eligible to apply you must: 

• Be a citizen and resident of Iraq, including the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) 
• Not have studied or lived in the UK before 
• Have a Masters degree from a recognised Iraqi/KRI university with an overall degree of “very good” (80%) — or any other equivalent of a UK 2:1 undergraduate degree (see https://www.ucl.ac.uk/prospective-students/international/iraq for details) 
• Meet UCL's requirements for English language competence, with a formal qualification (see https://www.ucl.ac.uk/prospective-students/graduate/applying-international-student for details). This is an essential requirement by UCL and by the UK Visa and Immigration authority, so sadly the Network can offer no flexibility about this.

Please note that:

• This scholarship is not available for part-time or online courses and is conditional on subsequent successful admission to the relevant MA programme at UCL.  There are no age limits attached to this scholarship.
• From 1 January 2024, the UK goverment's visa rules for international students are changing. Students on taught courses such as MA and MSc programmes will no longer be allowed to apply for family members to accompany them.   
• It is ESSENTIAL that you obtain an English language certificate of the level required by your intended programme BEFORE you apply to the scheme. You can check English language requirements for the programmes in the prospectus (link).  UCL's English Language Requirements webpage describes which tests are accepted, and details the scores needed for each level. If you cannot prove you have meet the English language requirement, you will not be shortlisted.

Application Process 

• Complete the online application form by 23:59 GMT on 15 January 2023.
• All eligible applicants will be contacted to ask for evidence that they meet the English language requirements for their chosen programme.  
• All eligible applicants who meet the English language requirements will be considered by a panel of academics from the participating UCL departments and institutes 
• You may be asked to attend a short online interview in February 2024
• The successful candidate and two reserves will be notified in March 2024
• We will support the successful candidate to make a formal application to the selected UCL Masters programme, for September 2024 entry 

Please note that the successful candidate will need to:

• apply to their chosen UCL programme before 5pm UK time on 5 April 2024, a process that includes uploading translated transcripts of your qualifications, as well as electronic copies of the originals.
• advance the application fee, which will be reimbursed by the Nahrein Network following the programme application
• meet the programme's English Language requirements
• if accepted into the programme, apply for student accommodation as early as possible; there are limited places for couples/families
• once an unconditional offer is accepted, proceed to prepare documentation and apply for the UK Student visa
• advance the visa and other related fees, to be reimbursed by Nahrein, based on receipts at the first opportunity

Please note:

• UKVI regulations no longer permit MA students to have dependants in the UK and will not issue them with visas, so candidates will not be able to travel to the UK with their families for the duration of the MA programme. This no longer applies once the candidate enters the PhD programme.
• having a debit or credit card associated with your bank account will speed up the payment processes from above. 

The Nahrein team will support the successful candidate through these steps, but deadlines can be quite short so the successful candidate needs to make sure they have the time and means to obtain needed documents in a timely manner. 

Please send all enquiries to nahrein@ucl.ac.uk

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Bartlett Institute for Sustainable Heritage (UCL English language requirement: Level 2)

• MSc Sustainable Heritage (Data Science)
• MSc Sustainable Heritage (Heritage Management)
• MSc Sustainable Heritage (Heritage Science)

Department of History (UCL English language requirement: Level 4)

• MA Ancient History 
• MA History 
• MA Medieval and Renaissance Studies
• MA Public History

Institute of Archaeology (UCL English language requirement: Level 2)

• MA Archaeology
• MA Archaeology and Heritage of Egypt and the Middle East
• MA Cultural Heritage Studies 
• MA Managing Archaeological Sites 
• MA Museum Studies
• MA Principles of Conservation
• MA Public Archaeology 
   
• MSc Bioarchaeology and Forensic Anthropology
• MSc Computational Archaeology 
• MSc Environmental Archaeology