Fees (Home) , Fees (International) , Maintenance , Student visa cost , Student immigration health surcharge , Other (see below)
Course length
Prospective applicant
PhD
Full Time, Part Time
Same as funding deadline for the course
2025/26

About

Harding Distinguished Postgraduate Scholarships provide the most talented PhD students with life-changing opportunities to research and study at the University of Cambridge. The Programme offers generous fully-funded Scholarships, which include fees at the Home or Overseas rate.

These Scholarships support PhD students from any part of the world, and in any discipline. All applicants who are assessed as being academically excellent by their Department or Faculty are eligible to be considered for an award. Students applying for '1+3' model courses are eligible for consideration.

The Harding Distinguished Postgraduate Scholars Programme (HDPSP) was established in February 2019 thanks to an extraordinarily generous donation from the David and Claudia Harding Foundation, the biggest single gift made to a university in the UK by a British philanthropist. 

Award details

Course length
Fees (Home) Fees (International) Maintenance Student visa cost Student immigration health surcharge Other (see below)

A personal research allowance of up to £6,000 will be available to Scholars over the duration of their course. This allowance is for personal research expenses, for example, expenditure on textbooks, a laptop, membership fees for Academic Associations and general research-related activity such as conference attendance.

The HDPSP will cover the cost of economy travel for the purpose of bringing the Scholar from their usual place of residence to Cambridge, from within and from outside the UK, to begin the course and to return home at the end of the course.


30 (approximately)
2025/26
Yes

Full-time Harding Distinguished Postgraduate Scholarship awards are usually of a tenure equivalent to the PhD course length - in most cases this is three years (pro-rated for part-time awards). However, Scholars have the opportunity to request maintenance funding for some or all of their fourth year of PhD study.

Academic merit

Scholars are expected to:

  • provide a profile for publication on the HDPSP website
  • complete an annual academic progress report
  • acknowledge the HDPSP's support in all research outputs

Eligibility

Prospective applicant
PhD
Full Time Part Time

Harding Distinguished Postgraduate Scholarships can be held at the following Colleges:

  • Christ’s College
  • Churchill College
  • Clare College
  • Clare Hall
  • Darwin College
  • Downing College
  • Fitzwilliam College
  • Girton College
  • Homerton College
  • Hughes Hall
  • Jesus College
  • Lucy Cavendish College
  • Magdalene College
  • Murray Edwards College
  • Newnham College
  • Pembroke College
  • Queens’ College
  • Robinson College
  • Selwyn College
  • Sidney Sussex College
  • St Catharine’s College
  • St Edmund’s College 
  • Wolfson College

A significant proportion of the Scholarships will be at St Catharine’s College. The larger group at St Catharine’s College reflects David Harding’s previous association with the College. However, the remainder will be distributed so as to guarantee excellent postgraduate students across the whole Collegiate University.

Not applied to one of the Colleges listed above?

If you haven't applied to one of the Colleges listed above, this will not preclude you from being considered for a Harding Distinguished Postgraduate Scholarship. However, please be aware that if you are offered a Scholarship, you will be asked to change to one of the Colleges above in order to take it up.

Application Process

Yes

Key dates

Same as funding deadline for the course

Successful candidates will be informed in early March 2025.

Sometimes when awards are declined, we may be able to offer them to other exceptional candidates. This can happen at any stage up to July but it is not guaranteed, it is dependent on the number of offers that are declined in any given year. The HDPSP is not able to comment on the likelihood that further offers will be made after early March.

Last updated: 24 Jun 2025 09:11:00