University of Birmingham - Charles Wallace India Trust

What the Charles Wallace India Trust offers

The Charles Wallace India Trust (CWIT) offers various funding programmes for Indian artists, conservators and humanities scholars planning a stay in the UK. The smaller grants amount to approximately 2,050 EUR (approx. 1,900 GBP). These are one-off grants for a research stay of around three weeks, which are paid out upon your arrival in the UK. The larger grants are significantly more substantial. They cover living costs and tuition fees for a full-time Master’s programme lasting up to one year, plus approximately 600 GBP towards your international flight. CWIT is a UK-based charity founded in 1981, which operates in India in partnership with the British Council.

Who can apply

• Nationality: You are an Indian citizen and live in India.
• Where you go: The scholarship covers the costs of a stay in the UK, not of studying in India.
• Field of study: Your field of work lies in the areas of the arts (visual arts, performance, film, photography, design, curating, art history), heritage conservation or the humanities (history, literature, archaeology, philosophy). The fields of management, natural sciences, economics, law and anthropology are not eligible for funding.
• Age: Approximately 25 to 45 for research grants and research visits (paid short-term stays for working professionals), and 28 to 38 for long-term MA grants. There is no upper age limit for translation grants.
• Experience: You are at the early to mid-stage of your career. This means that you hold a university degree and have several years’ professional or research experience, or are in the final stages of your PhD.
• University place: To be eligible for the long-term MA scholarships, you must already have a confirmed place at a UK university.
• Timing: You have not received a CWIT grant in the last five years.

How to apply

You apply via the CWIT website for the programme that suits you, submitting a personal statement and two letters of recommendation. The application deadline for the short-term research fellowship is 15.11, and calls for applications for long-term scholarships usually begin in winter. For the long-term MA scholarships, shortlisted applicants are interviewed online by a panel in India; the results are available around mid-April.

How realistic are your chances?

Nationality, field of study and career stage severely restrict the awarding of these scholarships, meaning that the pool of eligible candidates is significantly smaller than for open scholarships. The long-term Master’s scholarships are the most difficult to obtain: only a few are awarded each year, and applicants must first have a confirmed place at a UK university. The short-term research scholarships are easier to obtain; around 15 to 20 are awarded each year. If your work clearly falls within the priority areas of art, heritage conservation or the humanities, and you apply early, your prospects are good.