Gates Cambridge - Gates Cambridge

What the Gates Cambridge Scholarship gives you

You will receive a full scholarship to study at the University of Cambridge in the UK, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. It covers your full tuition fees as well as living costs of about 25,400 EUR per year (22,050 GBP, 2025–26-phrase) for up to 48 months as part of a PhD programme or for the duration of a shorter course. You will also receive a return economy-class flight to Cambridge, your visa costs, and the UK immigration and health surcharge. Upon application, additional funding is available for conferences and courses (approximately 865 to 4,600 EUR), a child allowance, continued payment of the scholarship during fieldwork as part of your PhD, and up to six months’ paid parental leave. Around 80 scholarships are awarded each year, and you will become part of a network of more than 1,700 former scholarship holders from over 110 countries.

Who can apply

• Nationality: You may be a national of any country except the United Kingdom. British nationals are not eligible to apply.
• Degree level: You are applying for a full-time or part-time PhD programme, a full-time MLitt programme or a one-year full-time postgraduate programme. Bachelor’s degrees, MBAs and similar professionally-oriented programmes are not eligible for funding.
• Field of study: Any topic is possible.
• Already at Cambridge: You can apply if you are switching to a new degree programme, for example from an MPhil to a PhD. You cannot apply whilst you are already studying on a degree programme.
• Grades: You have an outstanding academic record, such as a degree with honours.
• Engagement and leadership: You can demonstrate that you want to improve the lives of others and that you have the potential to take on a leadership role.

How to apply

Applications are made via the University of Cambridge’s postgraduate admissions portal. A single form covers both admission and the Gates-Cambridge Scholarship and includes four short essays. US citizens residing in the US must apply by 14 October. All others must apply by 8 December, although some programmes have a later application deadline in January. If your department nominates you, you will be invited to a 25 to 30-minute interview before the admission offers are sent out.

How realistic are your chances?

This is one of the world’s best-known scholarships, open to applicants of almost all nationalities and from almost all fields of study. As a result, there is a very large number of highly qualified applicants competing for around 80 places. Academic grades alone are not enough. The Trust attaches just as much importance to your commitment to others and your leadership potential as it does to academic achievement, and your department must first nominate you. Consider first-class academic achievement as a starting point, not as the decisive factor.