Funding 2

You will be required to demonstrate that you are able to meet the minimum financial commitment of your course. There are many sources of funding available, including the Cambridge Trust, Gates Cambridge, Colleges, Departments, Research Councils and central University funds. Funding opportunities are very competitive, and applicants are strongly advised to apply for all internal and external sources of funding they might be eligible for. Funding deadlines often differ from course application deadlines.
We also welcome applications from international applicants seeking national Government scholarships or local awards. In all cases, we ask that potential applicants identify an appropriate Research Group leader and agree a joint area of research before submitting a full application via the centralised University Postgraduate Admissions. Our departmental Postgraduate Administrator will respond directly to any enquiries (pgadmin@plantsci.cam.ac.uk).
University Funding
The Postgraduate Funding Competition co-ordinates funding from a wide variety of sources including the Cambridge Trust and Gates Cambridge. More details can be found here.  Applicants can apply by completing the funding section of the Postgraduate Application Form via the Applicant Portal.
Prospective students can also use the Cambridge Funding Search page to find out which type of funding they might be eligible for, and how and when to apply.
The deadline for the Postgraduate Funding Competition for courses starting in Michaelmas Term 2022, Lent Term 2023 and Easter Term 2023 is 6th January 2022.
For US citizens resident in the USA, who want to be considered for Gates funding, the deadline is 13th October 2021. For full details see here.
Applications must be complete by the deadline; this includes providing all supporting documents and references. Incomplete applications will be withdrawn. 
Departmental studentships
Details of studentships associated with a particular project and/or a named supervisor, (for example the schemes including DTP awards, specific Trust awards, those involving industrial partners, or more general awards administered by the Cambridge Trusts) are given here
Cambridge NERC Doctoral Training Partnerships
The University offers 3.5 year NERC-funded PhD studentships through the Cambridge Climate, Life, Earth, Atmospheric and Climate Doctoral Training Partnerships each year. These partnerships provide PhD training across NERC science and are organised around three major themes: Solid Earth and Geological Hazards, Climate Change and Environmental Processes and Biology and Conservation. For more information and deadlines visit the Cambridge NERC DTP website.
School of Biological Sciences Doctoral Training Programme
Applicants for this 4-year fully funded PhD programme should apply to the Department of Plant Sciences in the first instance through the University’s Postgraduate Funding Competition by identifying a supervisor from our Head of Groups or selecting a project from this list. The Department will assess and select eligible applicants and submit for consideration if an initial evaluation and interview are successful. For more information and deadlines visit the School of Biological Sciences DTP website.
Cambridge Trust Scholarships
The Cambridge Trust, which works with partners worldwide to support outstanding students under a variety of scholarship schemes, awards around 500 scholarships annually, and supports more than 1200 students in residence each year. For more information and deadlines see the Cambridge Trust website.
Alexander Crummell Scholarships 2022
In collaboration with Queens’ College Cambridge the School of Biological Sciences is inviting applications for the Alexander Crummell PhD and MPhil Scholarships. These scholarships are aimed at UK-domiciled students with Black or Black-Mixed ethnicity, applying for a PhD degree in a science-based subject at the University of Cambridge. For more information and deadlines visit the Postgraduate School of Life Sciences website.
College funding
Many of the University of Cambridge's Colleges also run funding competitions for postgraduates. For more information visit the University's college funding webpage.