Tag Archives: England

UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD, THE AFRICA OXFORD INITIATIVE (AFOX), AND MASTERCARD FOUNDATION SCHOLARS PROGRAM

Application Deadline: January 2026

LOCATION: England

The University of Oxford and the Mastercard Foundation have an innovative and ambitious partnership under the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program and the Africa Oxford Initiative (AfOx). The partnership is set to provide 400 young African scholars with a fully funded opportunity to pursue taught Master’s degrees in programmes related to pandemic preparedness and recovery at the University of Oxford.

ELIGIBILITY:

Eligible offer holders will be contacted by Student Fees and Funding via email and invited to complete a scholarship application form. To be considered, you must meet the following criteria:

Hold an offer for a full-time one-year taught master’s course at Oxford and have submitted an application via the graduate admissions portal by the relevant December/January funding deadline for your course. Open field applicants will not be eligible for consideration.

Be a citizen of an African country and ordinarily resident there. Necessary residence considerations will be made for students from refugee and displaced backgrounds. If you have a displacement background, please indicate this on your applicant form submitted to the graduate admissions portal by selecting YES to the question titled, “Are you, or have you been, a refugee, stateless person, or asylum seeker, or been otherwise forcibly displaced within or outside your country of origin?”

Should not have previously completed a graduate degree.

Must demonstrate a track record of leadership and service within their community.

Should demonstrate alignment with AfOx values (Collegiality, Empathy, Commitment, Transparency and Inclusivity).

Should show how their past work or future plans will contribute to addressing Africa’s major challenges, including but not limited to pandemic threats, the climate crisis and youth employment.

BENEFIT:

This full-cost scholarship is available to Master’s students, covering tuition fees and living expenses for international students. The scholarship also provides logistics support, including an economy return flight, visa and Immigration Health Surcharge fees, settling-down allowance, and access to a Thrive Fund for emergencies.

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UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD OPTIVER FOUNDATION SCHOLARSHIPS FOR INTERNATIONAL

Application Deadline: November, December, or January 

LOCATION: England

Oxford is committed to nurturing the global researchers, academics and scientific leaders of the future. However, financial barriers are known to prevent some talented students from pursuing postgraduate study at the University, particularly those from more disadvantaged backgrounds. This situation is further compounded in STEM disciplines (excluding biomedical and life sciences), where, despite progress in recent years, additional barriers have resulted in lower participation of women in postgraduate courses—both internationally and at Oxford. This scholarship programme will increase the number of women from low and middle-income countries taking up offers for postgraduate science courses at Oxford. The programme has been made possible by a generous donation from the Optiver Foundation.

ELIGIBILITY:

Up to six scholarships are available to females who are ordinarily resident in an eligible country and who are applying to start an eligible master’s course at Oxford in October 2026. 

For selection purposes we will include all candidates on relevant courses who have indicated on the postgraduate application form that their sex is female. The sex on the application form must match that shown in identity documents, e.g. passport or visa, but does not have to be the applicant’s legal sex. Transgender people may be able to obtain a passport or visa in a binary sex other than their legal sex.  

This scholarship is not open to applications from candidates who hold deferred offers to start in 2026-27.

To be considered for this scholarship, submit your application for graduate study by the relevant November, December, or January deadline for your course, and tick the relevant box on the graduate application form.

If you meet the advertised eligibility criteria, we will ask you to complete an additional scholarship application form to ask about your socio-economic situation and to assess for potential disadvantage and under-representation.

BENEFIT:

The programme, which will provide support for up to 30 taught master’s students over a period of five years, has been made possible by a generous donation from the Optiver Foundation. The next Optiver Foundation Scholars will begin their studies at Oxford in October 2026, and will be the fourth cohort of the scholarship scheme. Scholars will join the Departments of Statistics, Computer Science, Physics, Chemistry, and Engineering Science, or the Mathematical Institute, and will receive full financial support to cover their course fees, as well as a grant for living costs. 

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