HEFCE Scholarships for 2-Year MA Programmes in Language-based Area Studies at SOAS, University of London

Deadline: 20 March 2015

SOAS has a scholarship fund of £250,000 to award in 2015-16 for Masters students in Language-based Area Studies, funded by the HEFCE Postgraduate Support Scheme with match-funding from SOAS. These awards have been established to boost the skill set of UK graduates aiming to pursue high-level careers in business, government, NGOs, media, or academia with reference to a number of crucial areas in today’s world. The scholarships are available for two-year full-time MA programmes dealing with the Arab World, China, Japan, Korea and South Asia. A total of 25 two-year £10,000 scholarships will be available (to be paid in two instalments of £5,000 per year).

Of relevance to linguists is the fact that one of the eligible MA programmes is MA Linguistics and Language (Japanese/Korean/Arabic). Prospective applicants should note that £10,000 will amount to just over two thirds of the tuition fees for this two-year programme.

Candidate Criteria

• Applicants must possess or expect to be awarded a first class or 2:1 honours degree from a UK university.
• Applicants must be progressing from an undergraduate degree which was at a UK university under the £9000 tuition fee regime. This tuition fee regime commenced in 2012.
• Applicants must have applied for admission to pursue a relevant Master’s programme by the application deadline.  Applicants must meet the English language condition of their offer. If your offer is conditional on English, please arrange your English test and ensure you meet the English requirements as soon as possible.
• Open to applicants paying fees at the UK/EU rate only, priority will be given to UK residents
• Applicants for Arabic, Japanese, and Korean do not require prior knowledge of these languages, but previous experience in studying foreign languages is normally required.

Further information, including details of the application process, can be found here. Prospective applicants are strongly encouraged to contact Julia Sallabank, convenor of the MA Linguistics and Language programme, before submitting their application.