Funding and Scholarship Search: Glossary of Terms and Headings
This page contains a list of terms and headings which appear frequently in the Funding and Scholarship Search, with simple definitions provided for each term. The terms are listed alphabetically below, but we have also grouped them by the relevant screen in the Funding and Scholarship Search. To read the definition for a term, simply select a link from the following list.
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Funding and Scholarship Search home
- Browse by Subject
- Funding Type - click one of the following:
Charity/Trust
Funding Information Source
Master’s Studentship
Partial Scholarship/Bursary
PhD Studentship
Possible Funding Opportunity
Potential Sponsor - Keywords
- Level of Study
- Reference Number
- Region
- Subject Area
Search Results
Funding Items
- Closing Date
- Duration
- Eligibility - click one of the following:
Academic Criteria
Residency
Purpose - Funding
- How to Apply - click one of the following:
Application Deadline
Application Form - Reference Number
- Region
Additional general terms which may appear in the Funding and Scholarship Search
Alphabetical list of terms
Academic Criteria
This will specify what qualifications prospective applicants are required to have achieved, or the level of academic excellence required of a candidate in order to be considered for funding.
Application Deadline
The date by which the funding body must have received your application in order for it to be considered. This is often a fixed date (in which case it will be the same as the closing date) but is sometimes slightly more general – for example, applications can be requested at the end of a particular month each year, or a year before the course is due to commence.
Application Form
If available, we will provide a link to the relevant application page (which will usually provide a downloadable application form, or access to an online application system). If not available, we will endeavour to give you the details of whom to contact to request the application form.
Award
An amount of money given by a funding body, the form of which and the use to which it is put being entirely at that funding body’s discretion.
Bursary
A sum of money, often a single payment, given to support educational study. Bursaries usually amount to partial funding, and tend to be awarded on the basis of financial need.
Browse by Subject
This link will take you directly to a list of subjects. Clicking on any of these subjects will list all of the funding potentially available in that subject area, for all regions and for all levels of study.
Charity/Trust
Charitable organisations/trusts listed in the Funding and Scholarship Search may offer limited funding opportunities, or may consider approaches for funding by prospective students, but are not necessarily advertising specific award schemes. Award amounts are likely to be small and there may be specific eligibility requirements (e.g. regional residency). Often, an applicant must show that they have exhausted all other major funding avenues.
Closing Date
The date by which applications must be submitted to the relevant funding body. Applications which arrive after this date will not be considered.
Duration
The length of time for which the degree will be funded.
Eligibility
This section will give information which should enable you to judge whether or not you are eligible to apply for funding from a particular funding body.
Fellowship
Money granted for advanced study or research.
Funding Amount
The maximum amount of money that will successful applicants will receive. This is often not fixed at the time of advertising the award, as it depends on the fees charged by the institution when you start your degree.
Funding Information Source
Other external products and services which offer information on potential funding opportunities. These are included to provide prospective students with suggested sources for further research into funding opportunities.
Keywords
Suitable keywords are assigned to funding items, to provide an additional means of searching for relevant funding opportunities.
Level of Study
Funding opportunities are usually specific to a one or more of the following levels of study:
- Undergraduate – usually a first degree (e.g. BA, BSc)
- Postgraduate Taught – usually a Master’s Degree (e.g. MA, MSc, MTh, LLM) or a Postgraduate Diploma (PgDip, e.g. Diploma in Journalism)
- Postgraduate Research – usually leading to the award of MPhil or PhD
Master’s Studentship
A funded postgraduate studentship opportunity available for a specific Master’s programme or a range of programmes. Awards in this category will usually provide a minimum of full standard UK/EU fees. Some Master’s Studentships may also include a maintenance stipend.
Partial Scholarship/Bursary
Awards which provide smaller sums of money – typically those offering sums less than the UK/EU standard fee. This will include part-fees awards and other small awards that have specific purposes, such as fieldwork or thesis binding costs.
PhD Studentship
A funded postgraduate studentship opportunity either attached to a specific research project or open to postgraduate research applicants in a specific field or academic school. Awards in this category will usually provide a minimum of full standard UK/EU fees and will often include a maintenance stipend. For UK Research Council studentships, the maintenance stipend will meet a nationally agreed minimum level.
Possible Funding Opportunity
These are not current awards as such but may represent possible avenues of enquiry for funding, e.g. organisations that mention being open to approaches from potential students but are not actively promoting award programmes. There may also be additional means of earning income while a student which do not amount to studentships.
Potential Sponsoring Organisation
This category is used for organisations which may be open to sponsoring prospective students and/or have been known to do so in the past. Funding is not guaranteed and is not being promoted externally for applications.
Purpose
Often funding bodies may specify what purpose the degree studied should serve in a wider, non-academic context.
Reference Number
An ID number unique to the Scholarship Search item. If you make contact with the University to ask a question about a particular studentship, the reference number will allow us to quickly locate the entry and help us to address your question. The prefix letter denotes the appropriate level of study (U for undergraduate, P for Postgraduate Taught and R for Postgraduate Research).
Region
Countries are designated as belonging to one of three regions: UK, EU (non-UK countries), and International (non-EU countries). Once you have selected which region you are classified as residing in, you will be able to filter your results further and select your country of residence. Funding bodies will have funding available for residents of particular regions or specific countries.
Research Council
The UK Research Councils are government agencies responsible for co-ordinating and funding particular areas of research, including the arts, humanities, all areas of science and engineering. There are seven Research Councils, which receive public funds from the Department of Trade and Industry through the Office of Science and Innovation. Research Council grants currently support around 50,000 researchers through 18,000 grants and about 8000 PhDs are awarded annually as a result of their funding.
Residency
Funding is often made available for residents of specific countries, or regions. It may also be made explicit what residency in a specified area entails (e.g. having been resident for a specific period of time prior to starting your programme of study).
RSS [RSS Button]
RSS is an acronym for Really Simple Syndication, a convenient way to keep up-to-date with the latest published information in the Funding and Scholarship Search. This facility creates a ‘Feed’ which will allow you to read about funding items relevant to your search criteria as they are published, without having to return to the Funding and Scholarship Search and re-enter your search criteria.
RSS feeds are generally read using a piece of software called a news reader. This automatically checks each of the feeds and allows you to read the items that have been published. Some news readers are accessed via browsers and others are applications which are installed on your computer. User accounts such as My Yahoo and iGoogle accounts also support RSS feeds.
For a list of News Readers and additional RSS feeds from
Scholarship/Studentship
Financial aid provided to a student, usually on the basis of academic merit. These awards normally cover tuition fees and may also include a stipend to help with living costs.
Subject Area
Applicable subject areas have been assigned to funding items, to provide an additional means of searching for relevant funding opportunities. You can search for more than one subject area, or start your search by browsing subject areas. This should be the subject you want to study in the broadest sense.
Undergraduate Funding
This is a broad category for undergraduate funding opportunities available at the University (e.g. Cardiff University Undergraduate Scholarships and Bursaries), which tend to be more broadly based than postgraduate funding opportunities.
