Postgraduate Funding for Applicants
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Sigrid Rausing PhD Studentship
Securing funding to support postgraduate study is a separate (though related) procedure to the academic application. There are a number of funding opportunities available, and all are very competitive. It is not unusual for applicants who are made a conditional offer of a place to find themselves without the necessary funds to commence their study.
The Postgraduate Admissions Office website provides information about the costs involved in postgraduate study as well as information on the University's central funding competitions.
Working while studying

The MPhils and PhD in Social Anthropology require full-time study and the Board of Graduate Studies lays down firm limits to the other work postgraduate students may do while studying for their degree. In particular, it is not possible to undertake paid work outside the University during a course at Cambridge and therefore you must ensure that you have adequate funds in place for the entirety of your course prior to commencing your studies.
William Wyse Funding
As well the University's central funding competitions, students wishing to pursue postgraduate study in Social Anthropology may be considered for William Wyse funding.
The William Wyse Fund generously supports Social Anthropology postgraduate students through the award of a one-year Masters bursary, three-year PhD studentship and a fieldwork grants fund. Although the emoluments of this fund are held at Trinity College, the awards are available to students of any College in Cambridge. Please see William Wyse Funding for more information.
Sigrid Rausing PhD Studentship
Full-time applicants for the PhD in Social Anthropology who are planning to undertake research in the region of Inner Asia may be considered for this studentship. The next time it will be available is for applicants applying to start in 2028-29 academic year. To qualify for the award, applicants must be accepted onto the doctoral programme at the Department of Social Anthropology. Applicants meeting the criteria will automatically be considered for this studentship.
College Funding
A number of Colleges offer generous scholarships for postgraduate students, but they are also very competitive. Often these scholarships will require applicants to name the College as their first or second choice on their application form. As it is not possible to change the choice of college once the online application has been submitted, applicants should check the eligibility requirements carefully before submitting their application for admission.
ESRC Doctoral Training Partnership Studentship
A range of ESRC Doctoral Training Partnership Studentships are available across the social sciences at Cambridge; if you are interested in how society works and how it can handle global challenges, a DTP studentship will give you a world-class training programme, with access to leading international scholars both at Cambridge and other DTPs, and a wide community of fellow social scientists.
You can find out more about ESRC DTP studentships on the ESRC Doctoral Training Centre website. Please contact the Department’s Postgraduate Administrator (postgraduate@socanth.cam.ac.uk) to discuss your interest in applying for a DTP studentship.
Costs
Fieldwork costs
PhD students undertake a 12-18 month period of research in the field during which they may incur additional costs. There are a number of funds to which students may apply for assistance in meeting these costs including The School of the Humanities and Social Sciences fieldwork fund (SHSS FF)and the William Wyse Fieldwork Fund.
Cambridge Funding Search Tool
Other than the funding sources listed above, there are hundreds of funding opportunities available across The University. The Cambridge Funding Search Tool allows applicants to enter their details and pull up a list of funding for which they are eligible.