Trinity Cambridge Research Studentships (TCRS)
Trinity Cambridge Research Studentships (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 (2025-26 to 2029-30).
All student enquiries should be directed to the School or Department concerned or the TCRS Team.
This funding is intended primarily as seed core to encourage new matching funding from external partners. The initiative's aim is to leverage intellectual and financial support for research through the creation of research studentships at the University.
The programme is administered by the Isaac Newton Trust (INT) and was launched in 2024 so that research students could be funded for admission with effect from October 2025. 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 stellar applicants wishing to pursue PhD research in all disciplines. TCRS invites funding partners from around the world to support Cambridge’s world-leading research by attracting the world’s best talents.
Schools, Departments, and Faculties continue to engage actively with Cambridge University's Development and Alumni Relations' Office (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 the process, each School was provided with £400K from the TCRS fund, with a matching guarantee by the University of £400K (i.e. total £800K). The Schools have been asked to identify as many matching partners/funds as possible from the first year (admission for October 2025) to maximise the number of studentships available.
From the second year of the scheme (admission for October 2026), each School has been 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.
Grants will be allocated by INT following the TCRS Management Committee's assessment of School's bids for TCRS funds at the beginning of each Michaelmas Term for the initial five years.
