Grants and Writing Resources for University of Cambridge
Ten students and recent graduates of St John's College won 11 University prizes in 2025 for their essays, dissertations and exams. The list ran from the Cambridge Historical Society Prize for a Part IB long essay to the Manuel López-Rey Graduate Prize in MPhil criminology, and one student took two.
Funding a Research Degree
Two-thirds of doctoral students at Cambridge have their fees and living costs covered. The University's postgraduate funding page puts the 2024/25 figures at about 66% of doctoral students and 14% of Master's students fully funded. The Postgraduate Funding Search lists most University funding for postgraduates.
UKRI is the largest funder of PhD students at Cambridge, through doctoral studentships from seven Research Councils that pay home-rate fees and a stipend, sometimes with research costs on top. A limited number are open to international students. Gates Cambridge picked 68 scholars from 25 countries for its Class of 2026, 51 of them on PhDs.
Writing Prizes
One University prize that St John's students won in 2025 is the William Vaughan Lewis Prize, which the Department of Geography gave for a first-class Part III dissertation.
The George Bridgetower Essay Competition, run by the Black Advisory Hub, is open to any current undergraduate or postgraduate at Cambridge who self-identifies as Black. The winning essay receives £1,000. Shortlisted entrants are commended by the Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Education and the Hub's co-chairs.
Help With Thesis Writing
The Researcher Development Programme runs an ongoing programme of workshops for research students. Since 2023-24 it has also run Academic Writing Month, aligned with the national AcWriMo initiative in November, with sessions on academic and creative writing.
Where Theses Are Published
Since 2017, PhD students and those on other doctoral degrees, including the EdD, EngD and MD, have deposited an electronic copy of their thesis in Apollo, the University's institutional repository, alongside a printed, hardbound copy. The rule applies whenever the student started the degree.
If you'd like an editor's eye on a thesis chapter or a research paper before it goes out, we can help. See our University of Cambridge dissertation and thesis editing and University of Cambridge essay editing pages, or write to editors@editorsforstudents.com.
From Our Writing Guides
Compiled by James Peterson Brown, PhD, Managing Editor of Editors For Students. Links checked October 2026.
Editors For Students is an independent editorial service and is not affiliated with the University of Cambridge, and your faculty may endorse our services individually. We look forward to helping you bring your Cambridge writing to its strongest, submission-ready form.