Trinity Cambridge Research Studentships, or TCRS, is a programme to promote research through grants for PhD studentships, funded jointly by Trinity College and the University for a period of five years.
All student enquiries should be directed to the School or Department concerned or the Postgraduate Admissions Team: Postgraduate Admissions Office
This funding is intended primarily as seed core to encourage matching with external partners. This is done to leverage intellectual and financial support for research through research studentships in the University. The programme will be administered by the Isaac Newton Trust (INT). The programme is launched now so that research students can be funded for admission in October 2025 (applications being considered from autumn/winter 2024). After the initial five years, the scheme will continue for at least a further five years, fully funded by the University to a minimum value of £4.8 million annually.
The TCRS scheme will enable Departments and Faculties to make early offers to top, talented applicants for doctoral research in all disciplines. It invites funding partners from around the world to support Cambridge’s world-leading research by attracting the world’s best talents.
From the first year of the scheme, Schools, Departments and Faculties will engage actively with Cambridge University Development and Alumni Relations (CUDAR) to identify new funding partners. As new external partners are sought, new funds from within the Collegiate University will also be mobilised in order to maximise the number of fully funded doctoral studentships. As this is a time-limited scheme, TCRS will primarily match external funding either via one-off draw-down donations or recurring grants for a specified period of time.
To kick-start this process, in the first year (admission for October 2025) each School will be provided with £400K from the TCRS fund, with a matching guarantee by the University of £400K (i.e. total £800K). The Schools will be asked to identify as many matching partners/funds as possible from the first year to maximise the number of studentships available.
From the second year of the scheme (admission for October 2026), each School will be invited to make an application for matching grants for studentships of up to £400K per annum, or £1.6 million over four years. The allocation of funding from the TCRS in years two to five will match the amount secured by the School in new match funding.
INT will allocate funding towards studentships as determined annually by the TCRS Management Committee on the basis of applications by the Schools that include details of new funds raised, and cases of support. The INT will produce an annual report that summarises the operation of the scheme and evaluates its effectiveness.
TCRS Information for Heads of Schools, Departments & Faculties
