The Winston Churchill Foundation of the United States awards 18 Churchill Scholarships each year, including 16 Churchill Scholarships in science, mathematics, and engineering, and two Kanders Churchill Scholarships in science policy.
Recipients will attend the University of Cambridge and pursue graduate work in Engineering (including Computer Science), Mathematics, and the Physical and Biological Sciences. Courses run between 9 and 12 months and culminate in earning a Masters of Philosophy (MPhil) or Master of Advanced Study (MASt).
Deadline: September (Internal); November (External)
Value: Approximately $80,000: including tuition coverage, roundtrip airfare to the UK, visa fees and health surcharge, and a stipend set higher than the UK Research Council standard. Recipients are also eligible to apply for a $4,000 special research grant.
Eligibility: Applicants must be citizens of the United States and upon taking a Churchill Scholarship, hold a bachelor's degree or its equivalent from a United States college or university, and may not have attained a doctorate. Individuals selected for this award often have a GPA of 3.9 or higher.
Major: Physical and Biological Sciences, Engineering, Mathematics. Computer Science
Fellowship Type: Graduate
Nomination: Yes; Please contact the Office of National Fellowships.
Website: Churchill Scholarship
Churchill Application Deadlines
- Internal Deadline: September 16, 2026, 5pm EST
- National Deadline: November 2, 2026, 5pm EST
Churchill Recommended Steps and Timeline
- Review the eligibility criteria to ensure you are eligible for the award; Research master’s programs and select your ideal program. Note: you can only choose a one-year master’s degree.
- By June 1: Complete the pre-application form. The Office will schedule a meeting with you to discuss pre-application and potential recommenders.
- By June 3: Contact potential PIs to express interest in the program and your interest in the research being done in their lab. (Note: You should look up some recent research).
- By June 17: Send short answers & list of activities (i.e., future career plans, narrative transcript, and Research/Employment Experience, Scholarships, Prizes, Awards, and Other Distinctions, Non-Academic Interests and Activities, and Dissemination (presentations & publications)) to Fellowships Office (National.Fellowships@unh.edu).
- Begin writing your Academic and Research History and Proposed Plan of Study Essay.
Suggested Deadlines | Essay draft |
June 24 | Proposed Plan of Study (PPS) |
July 8 | Academic and Research History (A&RH) |
July 22 | Second draft of PPS |
August 5 | Second draft of A&RH |
August 19 | Third draft of PPS and A&RH |
- By August 5: Request four (4) letters of recommendation – do not enter their names into your application. Instruct recommenders to email their letters to national.fellowships@unh.edu by internal deadline. You may want to share information from this letter with your recommender.
- Recommendation letters must be in disciplines related to the application and by individuals with first-hand experience of the applicant’s work. Letters from professors in unrelated fields (e.g., history, literature) or from community leaders (e.g., clergy, politicians) are not accepted. If you have research experience (e.g., an NSF REU or internship), then it is mandatory that at least one of the four letters be from the director of that activity.
- By September 2: (1) Complete nomination agreement form and (2) complete FERPA form to request copy of official UNH transcript from the Office of National Fellowships.
- September 16, 2026: INTERNAL DEADLINE
- By October 9: Nominees will be notified.
- By October 14: Complete application for Cambridge University. Applicants are required to apply to Cambridge and to select “Churchill College” as their first choice. Nominees should submit 1 more round of drafts.
- October 31: Applicants should submit materials to allow sufficient time for upload ahead of the National Application Deadline.
- November 2, 2026: NATIONAL DEADLINE
