Wolfson Postgraduate Scholarships in the Humanities

With generous funding from The Wolfson Foundation, we are now inviting applications for Wolfson Postgraduate Scholarships starting in the 2025 to 26 academic year for doctoral (PhD) study in the broad subject areas of history, literature and languages.

The Wolfson Foundation awards funding to outstanding students who demonstrate potential to make an impact on their chosen field. Wolfson Scholarships will be awarded solely on academic merit. Ideally, the successful applicants should aspire to becoming significant contributors to society, whether in the academic sphere or in other areas of intellectual and cultural leadership.

• Application deadline: noon (GMT), 13 January 2025

Eligibility

• The awards are open to UK and International (including EU) applicants who will commence campus-based doctoral (PhD) study at the University of Nottingham at the start of the 2025/26 academic year.
• Applicants’ intended PhD research must be in the discipline(s) of history, literature or languages (definitions of eligible subject disciplines).
• Applicants should be resident in the UK for the duration of their studies and live within reasonable distance of UoN (except for periods of fieldwork). Applicants should have a track record of academic excellence.  This will usually be demonstrated by a good undergraduate degree, usually a first class degree resulting in a BA plus
  • either a Masters degree in a cognate field of study to their proposed doctoral research. The Masters must either be held at the point of application or completed by the time an applicant begins their PhD (even though the final examination board may not yet have taken place and the overall result is therefore not yet known)
  • or professional qualifications and experience equivalent to a Masters qualification.

Applicants should have applied to study for a PhD at the University of Nottingham before they submit their Wolfson Scholarship application. It is, however, not necessary to have received a formal offer by the point of application.

What the studentship covers

Each Scholarship offers a fixed sum of £108,750 over three years for full-time study or six years for part-time study and covers:

• Home (UK)/International tuition fees (where an International applicant is successful, the Faculty will cover the difference between Home and International fee levels).
• A maintenance grant (referred to as a stipend) fixed at £26,000 per year (pro rata part-time) which is tax-free and paid monthly.
• A research and training allowance.

Definition of eligible subject disciplines

Wolfson Postgraduate Scholarships are in three disciplines that align closely with the Foundation’s interests:

• history
• literature
• languages

These are broadly defined, and applicants should note that it is the area of study which is important rather than the name of the academic school/department in which they will be based.

History

As well as broad-based historical and historiographical studies, this may include such areas as classics, music, history of art, visual culture, or architectural history, provided the research is grounded within historical methodology.

Literature (excluding creative writing)

As well as literary and textual studies, this may include research that involves critical theory, theatre, film and other visual media, provided there is a literary element within the research (e.g. the translation of literature to screen).

Languages (excluding linguistics)

Research should be in applied languages other than English. It may involve the study of literary or historical texts, theatre, film or other visual media, translation, or the philosophy of language, provided that the research is focused primarily on a language other than English. N.B. While research can be working with any language, it is expected that the student’s final thesis is written in English.