Financial support for current students

The College has at its disposal a number of funds to help Queens’ students meet expenses related to academic, sporting and cultural activities, including travel.

There are different application procedures depending on the nature of the financial need. In the first instance, for all needs apart from travel, sports and University Language Centre courses, students should consult the list of subject-specific funds below and apply to the appropriate Director of Studies if their need is covered by one of these funds.

If there is no appropriate subject fund, then please scroll down the page for further information about sports bursaries, travel grants, supra-curricular and language course expenses, Friends of Queens’ Music, arts and crafts, support with general living expenses and funding offered by the University.

The College also provides substantial funding for nonspecific financial assistance, principally through the Cambridge Bursary scheme, with the College providing more than 50% of the amount awarded to Queens’ students and the University providing the remainder. All recipients of Cambridge Bursaries also receive an Additional Queens’ Bursary. Beyond the Cambridge Bursary, students who encounter unexpected financial difficulties may apply to the College for assistance.

Awards are normally made as credits to College accounts, so please do not send bank details with applications.

Only current Queens’ students are eligible for awards.

Queens' College Bursary Contacts

Subject funds

There is a standard application form available to download below, which you can use to apply for an award from a subject fund for any purpose other than travel.

The form should be submitted to the appropriate Director of Studies, as indicated in the information on each award below.  Receipts will be required to cover the full amount of any award.

Please do not use this form for conference registration fees, since attending conferences generally involves travel: instead, include such fees in a travel grant application.

Download subject fund application form

Architecture and History of Art

Students may apply for an award from the Seear Fund, which supports the academic and educational activities of students reading Architecture and History of Art.

Please send completed application forms to Professor James Campbell.

Asian and Middle Eastern Studies

Undergraduates and postgraduates may apply for an award from the Nourhan Nassar Memorial Fund, which provides grants to support any academic or educational activities of students reading Asian and Middle Eastern Studies.

Please send completed application forms to Professor Andrew Marsham.

Classics

Students may apply for an award from the James Diggle Fund, which supports the academic and educational activities of students reading Classics, including provision (where appropriate) of copies of the Cambridge Greek Lexicon and the Oxford Latin Dictionary.

Please send completed application forms to Dr Tomaž Potočnik.

Computer Science

Undergraduates and postgraduates may apply for an award from the Robin Walker Fund, which provides grants to support any academic or educational activities of students reading Computer Science. Please send completed application forms to Dr Jasmin Jahić.

Economics

Students may apply for an award from the Milgate Fund, which provides small grants to support the academic and educational activities of (normally) undergraduate students reading Economics.

Please send completed application forms to Dr Charlie Brendon.

Education

Undergraduates and postgraduates may apply for an award from the Joan Whitehead Fund, which provides grants to support any academic or educational activities of students reading Education or any related subject.

Please send completed application forms to Dr Tyler Denmead.

Engineering

Undergraduates and postgraduates may apply for an award from the Osborne Reynolds Fund, which provides grants to support any academic or educational activities of students reading Engineering or any related subject.

Please send completed application forms to Professor Andrew Gee.

Undergraduates also have access to the Queens’ Undergraduate Engineering Learning Fund (QUELF). No application form is required, the Director of Studies in Engineering will advise how to go about making a claim.

Undergraduates and postgraduates may apply for a Spearing Travel Grant, to promote technical and industrial visits abroad which are not part of normal coursework. Preference is given to students studying one of the branches of Engineering. Applications should be made using the travel grant application form.

English

Students may apply for an award from the Patterson Fund, which provides small grants to support the academic and educational activities of students reading English.

Please send completed application forms to Dr Andrew Zurcher.

Geography

Undergraduates and postgraduates may apply for an award from the Geography Fund, which supports the academic activities of all Geography students at the College. They may also apply for a Pomfret-Pearson Award for Geography Dissertations, to help with expenses incurred for any aspect of students’ dissertation work.

Please send completed application forms to Dr Debangana Bose.

History

Undergraduates and postgraduates may apply for an award from the History Subject Fund, which provides grants to support any academic or educational activities of students reading History or any related subject.

Please send completed application forms to Dr Gareth Atkins.

Law

Undergraduates and postgraduates may apply for an award from the Macpherson Fund, which supports the academic and educational activities of students reading Law.

Please send completed application forms to Dr Jennifer Cobbe.

Mathematics

Undergraduates and postgraduates may apply for an award from the Paul Barber Fund, which supports the academic and educational activities of students reading Mathematics, including support of the Mathematics Society.

Please send completed application forms to Professor Julia Gog.

Medicine and Veterinary Medicine

Medics and vets may apply for an award from the Barry Scott Fund, which provides small grants to support the academic and educational expenses of pre-clinical, clinical and postgraduate students studying Medicine and Veterinary Medicine.

Medics and vets also have access to the Nightingale Fund, to help purchase and access books, online subscriptions and any other learning resources.

Medical students undertaking medical electives may apply for support from the Pang Fund.

Please send completed application forms to Dr Janet Maguire.

Second year medics are eligible for the Armenian General Benevolent Union Global Leadership Programme, to travel to Armenia for an internship during the summer vacation.

Enquiries regarding this programme should be sent to Dr Janet Maguire.

This internship program is generously supported by the AGBU Dikran Knadjian Memorial Medical Scholarship, founded by Dikran Knadjian’s siblings Adom Knadjian, Vartkess Knadjian, and Grace Knadjian Davidian in his memory.

Modern and Medieval Languages

Students may apply for an award from the Smith Fund, which provides small grants to support the academic and educational activities of students studying Modern and Medieval Languages.

Please send completed application forms to Professor Martin Crowley.

Students may also apply for a Taylor Travel Bursary, which helps students with academic-related travel costs, including assistance with the year abroad undertaken as part of the Modern and Medieval Languages Tripos, and also more generally travel to countries relevant to students’ studies, especially European countries. Applications should be made using the travel grant application form.

Music

Undergraduates and postgraduates may apply for an award from the Charles Villiers Stanford Fund, which provides grants to support any academic or educational activities of students reading Music.

Please send completed application forms to Dr Peter McMurray.

Natural Sciences

The Streetly Fund provides grants to support the academic and educational activities of students reading Biology and Biological Sciences.

Chemists may apply for an award from the Haszeldine Fund, which provides assistance for academic-related travel, research projects, books, equipment, dissertation expenses, events and the Queens’ Chemistry Society.

Physicists are eligible for an award from the Woodhouse Fund, which supports any academic or educational activities of students reading Physics.

There is also the Darlington Fund, which provides grants to support any academic or educational activities of students reading Earth Sciences.

Please send completed application forms to Dr Mairi Kilkenny.

Psychological and Behavioural Sciences

Undergraduates and postgraduates may apply for an award from the James Russell Fund, which provides grants to support any academic or educational activities of students reading Psychological and Behavioural Studies.

Please send completed application forms to Dr Jane Garrison.

Theology, Religion and Philosophy of Religion

Undergraduates and postgraduates may apply for an award from the Henry St John Hart Fund in Theological and Religious Studies, which provides small grants to support the academic and educational activities of students reading Theology, Religion and Philosophy of Religion, or any associated course.

Please send completed application forms to Professor Richard Rex.

Travel grants

The College is able to provide funding to assist Queens’ students with academic and certain types of non-academic travel. Funds for non-academic travel are especially limited and we therefore set a high bar for approving such applications: we certainly do not fund ordinary holidays or sightseeing trips, nor do we fund trips between Cambridge and a student’s home. Awards are normally made from a Subject Fund or one of the following travel funds at the College’s disposal.

  • Professor Ajit Singh Travel Award. For undergraduate and postgraduate students wishing to travel to any country with a developing economy, to undertake research that will contribute to our understanding of economic and social development.
  • Bradley Travel Bursary. For undergraduate and postgraduate students undertaking travel during their time at Queens’.
  • Expedition Fund. For expeditions, where the majority of participants are members of Queens’, involving travel or study in remote parts of the world.
  • Hughes-Hallett Travel Award. For undergraduate students to travel abroad to further their studies or undertake voluntary projects. Preference is given to first year students who are not studying a language, but who wish to gain some language exposure.
  • Ian E. Linington Travel Award. Awards are granted to undergraduate or graduate students, for academic and/or recreational travel as part of a project or expedition involving initiative and industry which will assist the growth of a student’s personality, maturity and understanding of the world. Priority will be given to applications describing physically challenging expeditions (e.g. hiking, cycling, climbing, kayaking).
  • John Collins Bursary. Available to PhD students in the field of Chemistry to attend academic conferences.
  • Jubilee Fund. Available to current undergraduate and graduate students in support of any project or expedition requiring the exercise of initiative and industry, which might assist the student’s education or generally promote the growth of his or her personality, maturity and understanding of the world.
  • Dr Lewis Owens Postgraduate Travel Bursary. Travel bursaries for postgraduate students with limited financial resources to attend academic events and conferences.
  • Leonard Manns Fund. Travel grants and bursaries for undergraduate and postgraduate students.
  • Murali Travel Award. Available to current undergraduate students who wish to travel to a new country that they have not previously visited, and to be challenged to enjoy experiences outside of their comfort zone. Awards are made for extracurricular travel only, involving initiative and industry which will assist in the growth of a student’s personality, maturity and understanding of the world.
  • Perry Fund. To support travel for academic purposes by graduate and research students.
  • Spearing Travel Grant. To promote technical and industrial visits abroad which are not part of normal coursework. Preference is given to undergraduate and postgraduate students studying one of the branches of Engineering.
  • Taylor Travel Bursary. To assist Modern and Medieval Language students with academic-related travel costs, including assistance with the year abroad undertaken as part of the Tripos, and also more generally travel to countries relevant to students’ studies, especially European countries.
  • Treglown Fund. For undergraduate and graduate travel abroad to undertake worthwhile projects.
  • Weil Fund. To support travel for certain academic purposes to North or South America by graduate students.

Apply for a travel grant

Funding for sports & societies

Queens' offers substantial bursaries to help meet the costs of elite level sports, as well as smaller grants for College sports and subscriptions to join University sports clubs.

Minor grants for sport (Q550 bursaries)

Q550 refers to the campaign conducted to raise funds in 1997, on the 550th anniversary of the College’s foundation.

We allow one application of up to £170 per academic year. Applications will be accepted from the start of Michaelmas Term 2026 until Friday 4 June 2027.

Q550 grants provide contributions to costs incurred when participating in College or University sports. This includes sportswear, equipment and club subscriptions. Any sportswear or equipment purchases must be made no less than three months before the end of your course.

To apply, please click through to the application form below where you will find further instructions. Since we allow only one application per student per academic year, you may wish to delay your application if you anticipate further expenditure, up to the annual limit, later in the year.

Application forms that are not accompanied by valid receipts will be rejected. View examples of acceptable receipts.

Apply for a Q550 Sports Bursary

Major bursaries for sport (endowed bursaries)

There are at least thirteen major sports bursaries available to help Queens’ students requiring financial assistance to pursue high-level sport with the University or other representative teams (national, international, etc.).

Each bursary provides one annual award of £500 and applications are reviewed at the end of each term. Please note that we receive a very high number of applications, which means that applicants are unlikely to receive a bursary more than once during the course of their degree.

Funding might cover activities such as the Achilles overseas tour, warm-weather training, Varsity Blue tours, British Student games, training camp costs, club subscription fees, new equipment, etc. If no financial help is required, an award might be made in any year to recognise excellence by an athlete in any sport, the minimum standard for which would be winning a Blue.

You can apply online. The awarding Fellows, Professor Marie Edmonds and Mr Rowan Kitt, will decide which named bursary an applicant receives.

Endowed sports bursary application form

The deadlines for application in 2025-2026 are Friday 5 December 2025, Friday 20 March 2026 and Friday 19 June 2026

All applications are considered. Successful applicants will be informed by the Tutorial Office. In some cases, a single bursary may be split between multiple students (such as two students each receiving £250).

For interest, the endowed bursaries available include:

  • The Richard Hargreaves Sports Bursary: Richard matriculated at the College in 1964 and is a generous benefactor.
  • The Mike Turner Sports Bursary: named in memory of Dr Mike TurnerQueens’ greatest athlete. Along with Mike’s many years of athletics glory at Queens’ in the 1960s and 1970s, he later had a rich athletics and cross-country career culminating as UK athletics team manager at the Seoul Olympics.
  • The Eleanor Duck Sports Bursary: named after a famed double Blue in Lacrosse and Athletics, Eleanor was an Osprey of the Year and got a First in Natural Sciences. She is now reading medicine at Oxford. The Fund was endowed by her father, Jonathan Duck (1979).
  • The Alex Stout Sports Bursary: Alex rowed in the CU Lightweights Boat and was College rowing captain in 1999. She continues to row in the Masters’ World Championships. She is a lawyer in Hong Kong.
  • The George Band Sports BursaryGeorge Band is Queens’ greatest mountaineer and was a member of the 1953 expedition that successfully conquered Mt Everest.
  • The Griffin Sports Bursary: Elaine Griffin (1983) read Natural Sciences at Queens’ and was captain of the University Gymnastics team for two years, winning a half-Blue.
  • The Grace Prendergast MNZM Sports Bursary: Grace Prendergast MNZM (2021) read for an MPhil at Queens’ and is a World Rowing Champion. She is a 15-time national champion, an Olympic champion, and a five-time world champion.
  • The Pat Madden Sports Bursary: Pat Madden (1984) read Economics at Queens’ and was involved with rugby, swimming, football and basketball. He won his half-blue in the University Basketball team and captained the Queens’ basketball team that won Cuppers in 1985.
The Nelson Blues Fund

The Nelson Blues Fund is an endowed College Fund to support undergraduate and graduate students who have won Blues or half Blues by helping them cover the cost of purchasing their colours.

The Fund was endowed through the generosity of over 30 alumni and supporters, many of them Blues themselves, including a principal gift from Dr Mark Nelson (1983). Mark was a cricketer at Queens’, won a half Blue at golf and is a member of the Hawks’ Club.

You can apply for this fund online.

Application Form

You can be reimbursed for the following: full Blue or half Blue blazers and scarves.

Proof of purchase of your colours is required. Students who received Blues or half Blues and purchased colours in previous years, if they are still a member of College, should apply to the Fund this year as it may be possible for them to be reimbursed. For more information on purchasing, visit the Ryder & Amies website. Please ensure that you apply by the end of Full Term (19th June 2026).

The information submitted on the form will be sent to the awarding Fellows, Professor Marie Edmonds and Mr Rowan Kitt. Applications are considered throughout the year, hence students are encouraged to submit an application, along with receipts, when they have purchased their colours.

We kindly request that recipients of this award send a photo of them dressed in their colours to development@queens.cam.ac.uk to share with the donors.

Endowed funds (for Queens’ sports clubs & student societies)

The following sports clubs and Queens’ student societies are supported by their own endowed funds. Expenditure from these funds is administered and approved by the Senior Treasurer of each club/society, normally a Fellow of the College.

If you are the student President or Treasurer of a Queens’ club or society that appears in the list below, please reach out to the relevant Senior Treasurer to find out the size of your budget at the start of each academic year. Crucially, you should apply for funding from your designated fund before applying for any supplementary funding from the College Union.

Sports clubs and societies not listed below take priority when submitting applications for funding via the College Union, overseen by Dr Graham McShane who works closely with the JCR Treasurer.

  • The Farrant Fund for MagSoc – expenditure approved by Prof Julia Gog
  • The Michael Woodhouse Fund for Rugby – expenditure approved by Mr Rowan Kitt
  • The Farnfield Fund for Football – expenditure approved by Prof Julia Gog
  • The Scanlan-Michell Fund for BATS – expenditure approved by Dr Andrew Zurcher and Dr Peter McMurray
  • The Mary Beale Fund for Queens’ Arts Society – expenditure approved by Prof James Campbell
  • The Basketball Fund – expenditure approved by Dr Tyler Denmead
  • The Eleanor White Fund for Squash – expenditure approved by Dr Jerry Chen
  • The Islamic Society Fund – expenditure approved by The Revd Tim Harling

Friends of Queens' Music applications

This fund, which is available to any undergraduate or postgraduate student at Queens’, supports the musical life of the College.

Examples of expenses reimbursed by the fund include:

  • private musical tuition
  • to attend a workshop
  • public performance
  • recording production
  • purchase of an instrument
  • instrumental maintenance and repair
  • manuscript purchase
  • equipment purchase
  • travel costs related to a musical pursuit

To apply, please click through to the application form below where you will find further instructions. Application deadlines for 2026-27 are 6 November 2026, 12 February 2027 and 14 May 2027.

Apply for a Friends of Queens' Music award

Language courses

The College will reimburse the cost of all courses undertaken at the University Language Centre, apart from in-sessional English courses. Please apply for reimbursement using the below application form and email your completed form to tutorial.office@queens.cam.ac.uk.

Download language course grant application form

Arts and crafts

The Greta Maxwell fund supports arts and crafts in the College. Students may apply for an award using the below form, which should be submitted to Professor James Campbell.

Download Greta Maxwell application form

Other financial support

You can apply for all other types of financial support using the below form. This includes assistance with general living expenses in cases of unexpected financial difficulties. Please also use this form for assistance with the costs of any supra-curricular courses you wish to take (including online conference attendance), except for courses taken at the University Language Centre, for which there is a specific form (see above).

Download student support application form

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