Churchill Scholarship - Winston Churchill Foundation of the United States

The Scholarship was set up at the request of Sir Winston Churchill in order to fulfil his vision of US-UK scientific exchange with the goal of advancing science and technology on both sides of the Atlantic, helping to ensure our future prosperity and security.

Many Churchill Scholars describe their year in Cambridge as the best year of their lives. What makes this program so unique?

• It provides an opportunity for independent research (often leading to publications) that Churchill Scholars will not find again until well into their PhD programs
• The environment is well balanced between academic work, social life, and extracurriculars
• Churchill Scholars form friendships with their future colleagues from around the world
• Churchill is the only college at Cambridge (or Oxford, for that matter) that is focused on STEM subjects

16 Churchill Scholars

580 Churchill Scholar Alumni

121 Participating Institutions

65 Eligible Programs

Programs of Study

The Churchill Scholarship is for one year of study at the University of Cambridge for one of two Master’s degrees: the MPhil (Master of Philosophy) or MASt (Master of Advanced Study). The standard MPhil is a research degree that entails full-time research in a lab and culminates in a thesis and a viva (an oral examination). The MASt is a taught degree course comprised of lectures and written examinations. A list of eligible and ineligible courses can be found below.

Some MPhil courses involve a mixture of taught courses and a research paper, and most MASt courses provide the opportunity to write a research paper. Applicants should consider which balance of lectures and research works best for them.

The research-only MPhil is a rare opportunity to be able to spend a full year, undistracted, on a single research project. In the hybrid part-lecture and part-research MPhils, students can pursue a shorter research project, while the lectures expose them to a greater breadth of topics. Former Churchill Scholars have said that lectures in Cambridge move quite quickly and tend to be less engaging and interactive in comparison to lectures in US universities.

For students in the research-only MPhil courses, you may need to search far and wide in order to find the right lab for you. The Cambridge structure is different from many American universities, and labs in closely related fields can be found in a wide variety of different departments. Just as the list of courses here may be incomplete, the University of Cambridge website can be confusing and, in some cases, may omit courses or entire research institutes. We welcome suggestions of courses that may not be listed below. Feel free to contact the Foundation with any questions.

Applying for the Churchill Scholarship

The Winston Churchill Foundation of the United States accepts nominations for the Churchill Scholarship from a limited number of Participating Institutions. If you are interested in applying, you should first contact the scholarship office at your undergraduate institution. Each institution will have an internal application deadline some weeks in advance of the Foundation nomination deadline.The next nomination deadline for the Churchill Scholarship is:

Wednesday, November 1, 2024, at 5pm Eastern Time.