SCHOLARSHIP: Queen Mary University, UK International Scholarship for Ph.D Students
The Herchel Smith PhD Scholarship Programme recognizes and supports exceptional full-time students who show the potential to make an outstanding contribution to intellectual property law. This program supports PhD students specializing in intellectual property law and those working at the intersection of intellectual property law and other fields within the sciences and humanities.
Successful recipients of this scholarship will undertake research support work and related tasks for up to six hours per week throughout their studies for the Queen Mary Intellectual Property Law Research Institute (QMIPRI).
About university:
Queen Mary has a long, proud and distinctive history built on four historic institutions stretching back to 1785 and beyond.
Our founding institutions are: St Bartholomew’s Hospital Medical College, London Hospital Medical College, Westfield College and Queen Mary College.
All four institutions were founded to improve the lives of people with less privilege. St Bartholomew’s Hospital Medical College and The London Hospital Medical College were established to improve the health of the local communities in the City and east London. Westfield College and Queen Mary College provided education to women and working class communities in the East End, respectively, at a time when these groups faced extreme barriers to education.
Scholarship deadline:
March 26, 2026
Scholarship details:
- Level of Study: PhD
- Institution(s): Queen Mary University
- Study in: London, UK
- Program Period: 3 years as full-time. 6 years as part-time.
Scholarship eligibility requirements:
To be eligible for Intellectual Property PhD – Herchel Smith Scholarships, you must fulfil the following criteria:
- Required Language: English. (IELTS and other tests required)
- Eligible Countries: All World Countries
- The award is for new applicants who will enroll at the start of the coming academic year, in September 2026.
- Applicant must be a PhD students in intellectual property law and those working at the intersection of intellectual property law and other areas of sciences and humanities.
- (IELTS: 7.0 overall including 7.0 in Writing, and 5.5 in Reading, Listening and Speaking.)TOEFL: 100 overall including 27 in Writing, 18 in Reading, 17 in Listening and 20 in Speaking. Also, other tests can be accepted.
Scholarship Application Guidelines:
Please follow the following application instructions to avail this scholarship:
The following documents are required
- Any additional documents relating to this qualification (e.g. translations, the reverse of transcript) maximum of 5 uploads.
- A copy of your original certificate and/or transcript.
- Demonstrate proficiency in the English, language.
- If you are a member of any professional organisations (e.g. GMC, Bar) please provide the organisation name and your registration number (where applicable).
- A CV (curriculum vitae) or résumé is a summary of your education and any employment to date.
- A brief (1,000 words maximum) personal statement that: Explains your interest in this area Describes any relevant research experience – for example, as part of a previous degree Lists any academic work you have published or which is awaiting publication.
- Proof of funding or scholarship.
- Research Proposal includes; Proposed supervisor; Have you already made contact with the supervisor(s); Proposed project title / Studentship title; Research group; What is your proposed start date?
- Two referees and their contacts.
Apply online
- Make an online application, to the PhD programme before the funding submission deadline will be considered for funding: for full-time here and part-time here, then register next, log in after that apply as a new applicant.
- Follow your application step by step.
- Click the submit button once only.
- If you have any queries relating to the PhD funding application process, please email the School of Law PhD Admissions Administrator, Mr G Skehan by email at skehan@qmul.ac.uk.
Application instructions
- Notifications to be considered as a funding applicant not an applicant to the PhD programme only.
- There is a section within the PhD online application form labelled ‘Funding’. (To notify that ‘I will fund my studies by other means’).
- Then in the ‘Please give details of any scholarships or grants you are applying for or have already secured’, you should specifically state that (you wish to apply for a School of Law Herchel Smith award).
Important Notes :
- Applicants should note the School of Law, unlike other PhD programmes at QMUL, has no formal requirement for applicants to contact an academic staff member to arrange for supervision to be agreed upon before submission of their full application. All applications, in the first instance, are reviewed by the Research Admissions Director.
- If you want to apply for Herchel Smith funding and have already submitted your main application (without indicating that you wish to be considered for one of our funding awards) you must contact Mr Gareth Skehan, PhD Admissions Administrator, before the deadline by email at skehan@qmul.ac.uk, and state the award that you want to apply for. Without this specific email notification, you will not be considered for Herchel Smith funding.
- The Director has an overview of the supervisory capabilities and availabilities of all academic staff within the School, so applications are always reviewed, if they are considered strong enough by the Director, by academics with research expertise relevant to an applicant’s proposed area of study.
- However, the College’s On-line application system requires applicants to confirm the name of a proposed supervisor (in the ‘Research Proposal’ section).
- As Law has no requirement here, applicants can simply name their proposed supervisor as a ‘School of Law supervisor’, without having to name a specific member of staff (although they are free to do so if they wish).
Scholarship Benefits:
Intellectual Property PhD – Herchel Smith Scholarships will cover
- All tuition fees,
- Award of around £17,000 per year (reviewed annually) will be paid to the recipient on a regular basis throughout the academic year starting from September 2026.
