Funding for UK or oxbridge masters?

Durz0 Blint

Hi

Just wondering if anyone knows of any suitable scholarships for a masters in the UK. I'm also looking at some places in the US but I wouldn't be too happy moving so far away. I don't come from a wealthy family but I would currently be a very strong postgraduate candidate.

I am doing a joint degree in Archaeology and Economics in UCD. I would like to do a masters in archaeological science, in particular using ancient DNA to research the economic history of the Classical world. I have a 4.12 GPA and I am top of my class in both subjects. I also have two publications as well as several months of archaeological excavation experience, both in Ireland and overseas along with a 5 week lab internship researching ancient DNA in Trinity College and several months of upcoming museum work in the National museum of Ireland. I have been invited to visit oxford by one of the professors there so I will have a chat with him when I am over to see if he knows anything that could help me.

At the minute I think I am a very strong candidate for postgraduate study, but I wouldn't be able to afford one. I was wondering if anyone knows of any scholarships for Irish students to pursue overseas education? I cant really save anything at the moment as I work nights to pay my current college fees. Unfortunately a lot of the scholarships such as the Rhodes one seem to be for commonwealth nations only so im trying to explore whats out there.

I've worked hard to do my best and hopefully there is enough meritocracy in higher education to allow me to get a place in a masters as I would love the opportunity and I think my hard work shows I deserve the chance. If anyone knows anything it would be greatly appreciated.

Durz0

dyl10

The NUI Travelling Studentship. Although it might be more aimed at prospective PhDs.

gutenberg

In the UK, there's hardly any funding for arts Master's courses; the funding has mostly been shifted towards PhD study. You could look at the Research Councils (I imagine archaeology would fall under the Arts & Humanities Research Council, though I'm not 100% sure about that), but the AHRC have hardly any money now for Master's courses, it's almost overwhelmingly been funneled into PhDs. You might be lucky though. In my experience, Oxbridge in particular tend to heavily favour their own undergrads for any Master's scholarships - all of the funded Home/EU students on my course were former Oxbridge undergrads. In any case, a Research Council award will only cover your tuition fees, as a non-resident EU student. Individual universities & departments may have some scholarships, but you have to trawl university websites I'm afraid, as far as I know there's no centralised database to search.

For Oxford then, you could look at the Clarendon scholarships (though these are open to all nationalities as far as I know, so very competitive), and there's also a scholarship at Balliol for Irish students I think? Check out scholarships at the various colleges, but not many will offer full funding, so you could still have a shortfall.

For Cambridge, there's the Gates scholarship (again, open to all nationalities), and the Cambridge Home & European Scholarships (CHESS). CHESS, similarly to the Research Council, will only pay your fees if you get one; if you somehow secured a Research Council fees award, they might give you a CHESS award as well, which would contribute £6500 towards your maintenance (living costs), but that's only half the required maintenance figure. Then there are the individual colleges again.

In Ireland there's hardly anything - the NUI Travelling Scholarship has been mentioned, but there really isn't much else.

I did my postgrad at Oxbridge, so happy to try answer any further questions!

Durz0 Blint

gutenberg wrote: »

In the UK, there's hardly any funding for arts Master's courses; the funding has mostly been shifted towards PhD study. You could look at the Research Councils (I imagine archaeology would fall under the Arts & Humanities Research Council, though I'm not 100% sure about that), but the AHRC have hardly any money now for Master's courses, it's almost overwhelmingly been funneled into PhDs. You might be lucky though. In my experience, Oxbridge in particular tend to heavily favour their own undergrads for any Master's scholarships - all of the funded Home/EU students on my course were former Oxbridge undergrads. In any case, a Research Council award will only cover your tuition fees, as a non-resident EU student. Individual universities & departments may have some scholarships, but you have to trawl university websites I'm afraid, as far as I know there's no centralised database to search.

For Oxford then, you could look at the Clarendon scholarships (though these are open to all nationalities as far as I know, so very competitive), and there's also a scholarship at Balliol for Irish students I think? Check out scholarships at the various colleges, but not many will offer full funding, so you could still have a shortfall.

For Cambridge, there's the Gates scholarship (again, open to all nationalities), and the Cambridge Home & European Scholarships (CHESS). CHESS, similarly to the Research Council, will only pay your fees if you get one; if you somehow secured a Research Council fees award, they might give you a CHESS award as well, which would contribute £6500 towards your maintenance (living costs), but that's only half the required maintenance figure. Then there are the individual colleges again.

In Ireland there's hardly anything - the NUI Travelling Scholarship has been mentioned, but there really isn't much else.

I did my postgrad at Oxbridge, so happy to try answer any further questions!

Thanks everyone

Do you mind if I ask but how did you fund your masters? Was it in a humanities subject where funding is rarer or something else?

I was wondering how competitive these scholarships would be? While I understand they are not easy to get, I feel my application is pretty strong. Do you think if I keep up the grades and get some more experience under my belt will I be competitive for a scholarship or will it still be a very long shot to get one?

gutenberg

Well, for the Gates scholarships for example, they say on their website they receive 4,000 applications for c. 95 scholarships, so that's pretty competitive. I imagine something like Clarendon would be similar. I don't know figures for things like Research Councils etc., but you're only looking at handful of scholarships even for big departments like English, History etc.; smaller ones (like archaeology say) can be squeezed out sometimes in the rush.

While I would say that yes, you do look like a good candidate, do bear in mind that a lot of people who apply to Oxbridge in particular will be very strong candidates as well, so the competition is fiercer in some ways, as the general standard is higher. Plenty of people applying will be top of their year groups, with high firsts etc. On my course, I only came across 2 people who didn't have firsts, and this was on a course that had a 2.1 entry requirement (albeit a high 2.1). Many of them had done lots of wonderful things - research experience & projects, summer schools, volunteering etc., in addition to their studies, so standing out can be tricky. I applied also ranked at the top of my class, had won several prizes at undergrad (including one national prize), and had two publications as well, and I really had to fight for scholarships - some I got, some I didn't. It's really hard to say, as often when it's a high-quality pool it's so hard to say what the deciding factors are. You can only apply and see, because if you don't then you definitely won't get anywhere! My only qualm is that can be very hard to break into Oxbridge funding as a new student: if you did do a Master's there and applied to stay on for the PhD for instance, you'd probably have a greater chance at PhD funding versus at Master's level, because you'll be in the system (and also because there's more available for the most part).

Mine was funded through various combinations of scholarships, personal savings (I also worked during my undergrad years), and some parental help (loan); it's a humanities subject, where Master's funding is almost non-existent.

.

djpbarry

Durz0 Blint wrote: »

I would like to do a masters in archaeological science, in particular using ancient DNA to research the economic history of the Classical world.

If it’s research you’re interested in and securing funding is something that concerns you, then it seems to me you should be looking for a PhD position rather than a masters?