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See ACU website

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Upskilling future generations of researchers and key workers within private and public sectors is vital to the economies and future well-being, resilience, and prosperity of Small Islands Developing States (SIDS). It is also crucial for building long-term sustainable capacity in country and meeting local needs and priorities. 

The King's Commonwealth Fellowship Programme PhD Fellowships, inspired by His Majesty King Charles III, offer a unique opportunity for fellows from Small Island Developing States to undertake a PhD in their home country alongside work.

In this KCFP Pathway, Fellows will enrol in a PhD programme in their home country in the SIDS alongside working and receive joint supervision from a dedicated partner university elsewhere across the Commonwealth (mainly Australia, Canada, New Zealand, or United Kingdom), where they will attend periods of study and/or research methods training. 

The Fellowships are open to academic staff and professionals with master’s level or equivalent experience, who are committed to advancing engineering, education, health or climate resilience in their communities.

The King’s Commonwealth Fellowship will support PhD studies in the following subject areas: 

  • Climate change/environment
  • Education
  • Engineering and
  • Health

Funding Details

  • The fellowship will support each successful recipient with £30,000 over 6 years (£5,000 per year) to support research and research visits to SOAS University of London tuition fee waiver if they would be charged for the visiting period(s).
  • Where available and applicable, access to resources such as the library or databases of SOAS on a case-by-case basis.
  • £12,000 research support grant (£2,000 per year).
  • 20% salary contribution to the employer of the PhD candidate over the 6 years.
  • Dedicated joint PhD supervisors from SOAS and SIDS home university for the whole duration of the 6-year long Fellowship.
  • Access as a member of the ‘King’s Fellows cohort’ to training to support continued professional development and learn relevant skills, such as communication, engaging with policy makers, entrepreneurship, public speaking and applying for research funding.

Candidate criteria

  • Applicants must possess a master’s degree or have equivalent experience.
  • Applicants must be due to commence or already enrolled in a PhD research degree programme at a ACU SIDS member university in the 2025/26 academic year.
  • The PhD subject area must fall within one of the 4 KCFP research areas (Climate change/environment, Education, Engineering and Health). 
  • Applicants must have citizenship or refugee status in a Commonwealth SIDS. The following countries are eligible:
  • Those belonging to indigenous communities are especially encouraged to apply. Applicants who do not belong to indigenous communities are also eligible.

Africa

Mauritius, Seychelles  

Asia

The Maldives  

Caribbean and Americas

Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and Grenadines, The Cayman Islands and Trinidad and Tobago  

Pacific

Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Papua New Guinea PNG, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu

Candidate assessment 

  • Candidates will be assessed based on their academic merit, financial need, work experience and personal statement by a Selection Panel.
  • The assessment of your application will be based on the information provided in your scholarship application and in your online application for admission. The panel will review details such as degree results, personal statement and other relevant information.
  • Candidates must submit a complete application for their programme as soon as possible and then submit an application for this scholarship in order to be considered. Please note that complete applications for admissions can take up to 4 weeks to be considered by the department, although this duration can vary depending on the time of the year. You should be prepared to wait up to 6 weeks in busy periods. 
  • Candidates will need to have an unconditional offer for your programme by the time the Scholarship Panel meet.
  • Late or incomplete applications will not be considered.

Scholarship application procedure

To apply for this scholarship, applicants will need to submit an application by 1:00pm (UTC) on 25 April 2025.

You must apply for this scholarship via the Associate of Commonwealth Universities online application portal. The link to this portal can be found on the King's Commonwealth Fellowship Programme PhDs | ACU webpage.

For guidance on how to complete an application, please refer to the Application Guidance and FAQs webpages. 

Notification of results 

The scholarship shortlisting and awarding period is expected to be completed by the end of July 2025.Successful candidates will be contacted directly by the Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU).

Enquiries 

For enquiries regarding your 

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