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Last Updated on Monday, 25 March 2013 08:44

British Federation of Women Graduates (BFWG) Scholarships

The 2013 Scholarship competition has now closed.

Details of the 2014 competition will be published early next year.

Guidance for applicants

BFWG Scholarships (Academic Awards) are awarded in competition on the basis of overall academic excellence. They are not intended to meet financial need. If you are looking primarily for help with living expenses (fees must be paid) please go to Funds for Women Graduates (ffwg.org.uk) which is run TOTALLY INDEPENDENTLY of the BFWG Scholarships programme. You are entitled to apply both for BFWG scholarships and for FFWG grants but the application processes and addresses to which applications should be sent are totally different (see ffwg.org.uk for the Funds for Women Graduates application process).

The British Federation of Women Graduates scholarships are for women who will be in their third year of doctoral studies or part time equivalent at the time when the awards are given out (the autumn of each year). The awards are given on the basis of evidence of academic excellence as shown on the application form, referee reports and, for those shortlisted, presentation of research to a panel of academics. The amounts offered range upwards from £1000 with the average award being around £3000. The number of awards made each year depends on the funds available and on the quality of the applications but six to eight awards are usually given. The final selection is made in June/July of each year and awards are given out in September/October.

To be eligible to apply for a BFWG award for the year 2013/14 you must be: A female postgraduate student who commenced full time doctoral studies eg. PhD, DPhil, DMus etc. between September 1 2010 and October 31st 2011, or a part time student at an equivalent stage of her studies. You must be registered at a university in England, Wales or Scotland (not Northern Ireland). Awards are given to help with on-going doctoral work rather than as prizes at the end of doctoral studies so are not expecting applicants to be submitting their theses before 2014 at the earliest. To be eligible, fees for the year from October 2013 must be paid or covered by available funds or waived by the university. Applications close on Friday March 22nd 2013.

You can only make an application for a BFWG scholarship once. However, if you are a holder now, or in the past, of a Funds for Women Graduates/FfWG/BFWG Charitable Foundation grant. Or if you are applying for an FfWG grant this year, you may also apply for a BFWG scholarship.

Am I eligible to apply? Click here to find out.
Only email applications will be accepted. To make an application for a BFWG award, download and complete the application form. Email this back to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  giving the subject heading of your email ‘AWARD APPLICATION’ and at the same time ensure that you have followed the instructions for sending a £20 administration fee through PayPal as described on the form. Please make sure that you record the reference number of your PayPal transaction, the date of the transaction and the name of whoever is paying it for you if this is not yourself on the application form.  

To complete the process of application check:

1. That you have made your Paypal payment.

2. That you have completed the application form. Click here to download an application form.

3. That you have asked your two academic referees for permission to use their names and have emailed/given them the information provided for referees (click here  to download Guidance for Referees ). Please make sure they understand this application is for a BFWG Scholarship and ask them to email their references to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.   with the subject title ‘REFERENCE’ followed by your name before the closing date for applications (March 22nd 2013).

Shortlisted candidates will be informed towards the end of May. If shortlisted, you will be asked to give a presentation in BFWG’s London headquarters in late June or early July. (If you are unavailable on the relevant date we do our best to make alternative arrangements).You will be allowed to speak for eight minutes and this will be followed by questions from the interviewing panel of academics. Throughout criteria for making awards are the student’s overall academic excellence, quality of research and ability to communicate this.