The Silk Roads PhD Studentship provides funding for up to 4 years. Each year it will cover the University composition fee at the appropriate rate, a maintenance allowance, plus an allowance for research and travel. It will reflect (as needed) annual adjustments in College or University fees due to inflation.
In addition, an allowance will be available in Year 3 to host an international conference at King’s on the topic of the Silk Roads. The studentship-holder will be expected to present some of their thesis work at this conference, and to write a short annual report on their work.
The Silk Roads PhD Studentship is open to applicants intending to pursue research on some aspect of the Silk Roads countries, societies, and cultures of Asia from the Western borders of China to the Mediterranean Sea, as well as their relationships with China in the East and Europe in the West, since 1400CE.
How to Apply
Please note that applications for 2023/24 are now closed. The information shown below will be updated by the end of November 2023, for students who will be applying to commence studies in 2024/25, once we have confirmed whether we are able to offer a studentship for 2024/25.
- Apply to the University of Cambridge through the Applicant Portal. If you are yet to apply to Cambridge, it is advisable to put King’s College as your first-choice College as the scholarship is only tenable as a member of King’s.
- We advise you to apply to the University as soon as possible, especially if the Department to which you are applying has an earlier closing date than the 30th April. See the University Postgraduate Course Directory for closing dates for courses and for admissions information for specific Faculties or Departments.
- Return a King's studentship application form (below) by 30 April 2023.
If you have already submitted an application for your course and did not choose King’s as your first-choice College, you may still be considered for this scholarship by completing an application form and returning it to King’s by the deadline date of 30 April.
For further information about the Studentship and about applying for graduate study in Cambridge, please email graduate.admissions@kings.cam.ac.uk.
Scholarship Feedback
Towards the end of their time in Cambridge the holder of the scholarship will be expected to submit a brief report on their academic work, describe their experience at King’s and indicate their intentions for the future.
The Silk Roads Studies Programme
This PhD Studentship is part of a newly-launched Silk Roads Studies Programme at King’s, which includes Research Fellowships, PhD Studentships, lectures, seminars and conferences. As well as pursuing their own research project, the successful candidate will be expected to be involved in this new initiative, and play an active role in helping to develop the programme and in helping organise academic activity concerned with the countries of the Silk Roads.
