Purpose: 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 programme to enable outstanding graduate students from outside the United Kingdom to study at the University of Cambridge.

Eligibility: Applicants can come form any country in the world except for the U.K., and should normally be under the age of 30.

Applicants will be expected to have excellent transcripts from their undergraduate institution with high GPA scores showing evidence of sustained achievement in study, and must have completed their undergraduate degree.

Applicants must apply to pursue one of the following full-time residential courses study:

• Research leading to the PhD degree
• One-year post-graduate courses (e.g. MPhil, LLM, Diploma etc.)
• Second Bachelor degree as an Affiliated Student
• MBBChir Clinical Studies

Applicants must apply separately for admission to the University of Cambridge and for the Gates Cambridge scholarship.

Applicants must be admitted to Cambridge through the University's normal academic procedures. The Gates Cambridge Trust cannot admit students.

Applicants 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. Some courses may have particular requirements for admission.

Applicants who are not native speakers of English are required by the University to provide proof of their proficiency in the English language to meet the minimum standard required for admission to Cambridge.

Award amount and conditions: The scholarship covers the full cost of study at the University of Cambridge for a single person - namely, all approved University and College tuition fees, a maintenance allowance [which for 2005-06 will be approximately £8,400/ $15,470], a further discretionary allowance for study-related activities [which for 2005-06 will be approximately £2,000/$3,680], and one return economy airfare between the U.K. and the Scholar’s normal country of residence.

Applicants who are not successful in winning a Gates Cambridge Scholarship will automatically be considered for awards for which they are eligible from one or other of the Cambridge Trusts. See the website for more details on this.

Number offered: The Trust seeks to elect approximately 100 new scholars annually.

Application materials/Deadline: This fellowship does NOT require institutional nomination via the Office of Fellowships. Applicants must apply to Cambridge University and apply for the Gates Cambridge Scholarship no later than 15 October 2005 if they wish to be considered. Applicants who return their Graduate Application and Scholarship Application after 15 October 2005 will only be considered for modest, part-cost awards offered by the Cambridge Overseas Trust. The application includes personal information, transcripts, essay questions, and a detailed form for reference and recommendation from one referee. More information and the application form are available online.

Official website address: http://www.gates.scholarships.cam.ac.uk/

For more information:

Denise Gagnon
Fellowships Coordinator
dmgagnon@amherst.edu
413-542-2536 Fax: 413-542-8555
The Office is located in
213 Converse Hall.

The mailing address is:
Office of Fellowships
Amherst College
Amherst, MA 01002

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