Background: In October 2000, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation of Seattle, Washington, USA announced a donation to the University of Cambridge of $210 million to establish the Gates Cambridge Trust.  This benefaction creates in perpetuity an international scholarship program to enable outstanding graduate students from outside the United Kingdom to study at the University of Cambridge.

The Scholarship: Gates Cambridge Scholarships are awarded only to students who gain admission to the University through the University's regular procedures. They cover the full cost of study at Cambridge for a single person - namely, all approved University and College tuition fees, a maintenance allowance [which for 2005-06 will be £8,400], a further discretionary allowance for study-related activities [which for 2005-06 will be £2,000], and one return economy airfare between the UK and the Scholar’s normal country of residence.

The Application: The Gates Cambridge Trust cannot admit students to the University or to any of its Colleges. Applicants for a Gates Cambridge Scholarship must apply to the University of Cambridge in the normal way.  For application procedures, see website: http://www.gatesscholar.org/

Who Should Apply: Candidates for a Gates Cambridge Scholarship may come from any country of the world except the United Kingdom, may apply to study any subject currently available at the University, and should normally be under the age of 30.  They must have a first class or high second class honors degree, or its equivalent, from a recognized university. For universities which work according to the North American pattern, candidates will be expected to have excellent transcripts with high GPA scores showing evidence of sustained achievement in study, together with the type of academic references referred to in the paragraph above.  They must be well prepared for the Cambridge course for which they are applying and must meet the academic criteria for admission specified by the University.

Campus Procedure and Deadlines: Contact Professor Scott Denham for information.

For More Information: See website http://www.gates.scholarships.cam.ac.uk/