Applications for the King's Commonwealth Fellowship Programme 2025 are now open. 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.
About King's Commonwealth Fellowship Programme
Opportunity Details
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
Benefits of King's Commonwealth Fellowship Programme
- The fellowship will support each successful recipient with the following: GBP 30,000 over 6 years (GBP 5,000 per year) to support research and research visits to a dedicated partner university (in Australia, Canada, New Zealand or United Kingdom). Waiver of international tuition fees if they would be charged for the visiting period(s).
- Where available and applicable, access to resources such as the library of the partner university or databases on a case-by-case basis.
- GBP 12,000 research support grant (GBP 2,000 per year).
- 20% salary contribution to the employer of the PhD candidate over the 6 years.
- Dedicated joint PhD supervisors from the partner university 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.
King's Commonwealth Fellowship Programme Requirements
All of the below items must apply to be eligible:
- Applicants with a Master's degree or equivalent experience.
- Due to commence or already enrolled in a PhD research degree programme at a ACU SIDS member university in the 2025/26 academic year with an aim to complete the PhD degree (please see list of universities below).
- PhD subject area falls within one of the 4 KCFP research areas (Climate change/environment, Education, Engineering and Health).
- Applicants with citizenship or refugee status in a Commonwealth SIDS. The following countries are 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 andTrinidad and Tobago
Pacific
Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Papua New Guinea PNG, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu
Those belonging to indigenous communities areespecially encouraged to apply. However, this is not an eligibility criteria, meaning, those who do not belong to indigenous communities will also be eligible.
List of ACU member universities in Commonwealth SIDS
- Fiji National University
- The University of Fiji
- The University of the South Pacific
- Divine Word University
- Papua New Guinea University of Technology
- University of Papua New Guinea
- National University of Samoa
- American University of Barbados School of Medicine
- Galen University
- University of Belize
- University College of the Cayman Islands
- Texila American University
- University of Guyana
- Caribbean Maritime University
- The University of the West Indies
- Saint James School of Medicine
- University of Medicine and Health Sciences (UMHS)
- Avid College
- Maldives National University
- Villa College
- Open University of Mauritius
- University of Mauritius
- University of Technology Mauritius
- University of Seychelles
List of KCFP partner universities
- University of Edinburgh (UK)
- University of Glasgow (UK)
- University of Southampton (UK)
- University of the West of Scotland (UK)
- Heriot Watt University (UK)
- University of Bristol (UK)
- University of Oxford (Kellogg College, UK)
- SOAS University of London (UK)
- University of Birmingham (UK)
- Cardiff University (UK)
- King’s College, London (UK)
- Lancaster University (UK)
- Newcastle University (UK)
- Swansea University (UK)
- University of Liverpool (UK)
- University of Bath (UK)
- Macquarie University (AUS)
- Griffith University (AUS)
- University of New South Wales (AUS)
- University of Sydney (AUS)
- Murdoch University (AUS)
- Western University (CAN)
- Lincoln University (NZ)
- University of Canterbury (NZ)
Application Date and Process
Applications for a PhD Fellowship can be completed and submitted online using the link below.
Applicants are strongly advised to read all of the application guidance and FAQs pages carefully before starting their application
Application Deadline
25 April, 2025
Scholarship Application Portal
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King's Commonwealth Fellowship Programme
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