☰
The King’s College London is accepting applications for Alexandros Petersen Scholarship from Afghans, Central Asia, or the South Caucasus applicants. This Scholarship provides the best and brightest students with the opportunity to continue their M.A. in the fields of Conflict, Development, and Security in the Department of War Studies. Apply now!
Opportunity Details
King’s worked with the Petersen Family to establish The Alexandros Petersen Scholarship at King’s in September 2016. The scholarship programme has been made possible by a transformative US$1million gift from his family and will fund at least 22 full master’s scholarships in the Department of War Studies at King’s College London.
The programme will support students whose work reflects Alexandros’ aims and ambitions and those who hope to become future practitioners on the ground, spanning the world of academia and policy. Our hope is that this programme will not only perpetuate Alexandros’ academic and personal memory but also encourage other young people – through his example – to continue the work that he was unable to finish.
One scholarship will be available per year. Each student will receive a full tuition fee waiver, a monthly stipend, and a £2,000 travel bursary. Scholarships are open to residents in Afghanistan, Central Asia, or the South Caucasus, who wish to undertake a one-year master’s in the Conflict, Security, and Development programme within the War Studies Department. To be eligible for the scheme, students will have to complete an application form which will include an overview of recent academic achievements, demonstrate their financial need, and include a personal statement demonstrating how the scholarship will support their future aspirations and build their careers.
The application form must be attached to your online application for the Conflict, Security and Development MA, made via the King’s Apply portal. You can do this by uploading the form in the Supporting Statement section of your King’s Apply application.
The scholarship is worth £57,800 annually, made up of:
Full tuition fee waiver
£20,000 stipend in 2025/2026 which will be paid over 10 months
Travel bursary
Applicants must meet the following criteria:
Be a resident of Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan or Uzbekistan.
Applicants must acknowledge that they would endeavour, on completion of their studies, to return in due course to Central Asia or the South Caucasus region to share the skills that they gain whilst at King’s.
Priority is given to students applying to the Conflict, Security and Development MA but other War Studies MAs may be considered.
Applicants must meet the academic entry requirements for the programme via their undergraduate study.
Applicants must meet the minimum criteria for English language as stated by the University for this programme. Applicants are responsible for taking the appropriate tests to prove they meet these requirements.
For a list of approved English proficiency tests and scores, please refer to the Postgraduate English language entry requirements section of King's website here.
The tests are valid if they have been taken within the past two years, for example, if your course begins in September 2025, you must have completed your English Language test after 1 September 2023.
In certain exceptions, students may undertake a pre-sessional English course at King’s in the weeks prior to the programme beginning. This will be decided on a case-by-case basis dependent on the applicant's level of English language.
Please note: If you are successful in your application, you will receive a conditional offer with a deadline by which all the above criteria must be met. In the case of meeting the English language requirement, if you do not already have a valid English language test at the point of applying, you will need to complete one within 60 days of confirming your acceptance of the scholarship.
Selection process
Eligible applications will be reviewed by the Admissions team at King's College London. As part of this process, applicants will be asked to submit their degree certificate and transcript for verification. Instructions will be provided to applicants via the King’s Apply portal, where you can also upload evidence of any completed English language tests.
King's will notify all candidates to the Alexandros Petersen Scholarship of the decision by the end of March 2025. Note that an offer for the master’s programme does not entail award of the scholarship. All candidates will be contacted via email about the outcome of their scholarship application.
Applicants must submit their application by 10 January 2025 to be considered. To do so, you must:
Start the formal programme application for King’s through King’s Apply for Conflict, Security and Development MA (Full-time) programme.
You must apply through the Conflict, Security and Development MA programme for administrative purposes but if you have a preference to study a different full-time Master’s programme within the Department of War Studies (see full list here) please indicate this on your Alexandros Petersen scholarship application form and on the application fee waiver MS form in the relevant section
In the Funding section of the application form:
Please tick box 5 “I am applying for a funding award or scholarship administered by King’s College London” and include the following Award Scheme Code in the free text box: APS2025.
In the File Upload section, please attach the following two documents. Ensure both documents are clearly named and use the drop-down category “Other”.
1. The Scholarship application form.
2. A writing sample. Details of what your writing sample should include can be found further down.
Please note: There is a 3MB limit to the size of documents you can upload to the Supporting Statements section of the King’s Apply Portal. If you are struggling to upload your documents due to larger file sizes, submit your application with what you are able to upload, and then contact admissions through the King's Apply portalwho will be able to assist you.
Applicants for master’s programmes at King’s College London are normally required to pay an application fee to submit the application. However, if you are applying for the Alexandros Petersen Scholarship opportunity, you can have this application fee waived.
As soon as you start your application, and before you submit it, follow the steps below to have your application fee waived.
Once you have started your application but before you submit it, please complete the MS Form for the Application Fee Waiver available here by no later than 10 January 2025.
Through this form, your details will be passed to the King’s Admissions Office who will waive your application fee and confirm by email that you can submit your application free of charge.
After you receive the email confirming your application fee waiver, you can return to King’s Apply and submit your application by no later than 13 January 2025 to be considered eligible. Note that this extended deadline only applies to candidates who have completed the MS Form by the 10 January 2025.
Apply for Alexandros Petersen Masters Scholarship