Optiver Foundation Scholarships
This scholarship programme will increase the number of women from low and middle-income countries taking up offers for postgraduate science courses at Oxford. The programme has been made possible by a generous donation from the Optiver Foundation.
About
The programme, which will provide support for up to 30 taught master’s students over a period of five years, has been made possible by a generous donation from the Optiver Foundation. The next Optiver Foundation Scholars will begin their studies at Oxford in October 2026, and will be the fourth cohort of the scholarship scheme. Scholars will join the Departments of Statistics, Computer Science, Physics, Chemistry and Engineering Science, or the Mathematical Institute, and will receive full financial support to cover their course fees, as well as a grant for living costs. The donation will also enable the provision of tailored induction activities, mentoring, and on-course support for the scholars.
Thanks to the generosity of the Optiver Foundation, Oxford will also develop and pilot a new way of assessing the socio-economic background of international applicants. This will ensure that the funding provided through the new Optiver Foundation Scholarship Programme is finely targeted at eligible offer-holders who are most in need of financial support. Key findings from this pilot will be used to inform future scholarship programme development at the University.
Oxford is committed to nurturing the global researchers, academics and scientific leaders of the future. However, financial barriers are known to prevent some talented students from pursuing postgraduate study at the University, particularly those from more disadvantaged backgrounds. This situation is further compounded in STEM disciplines (excluding biomedical and life sciences), where, despite progress in recent years, additional barriers have resulted in lower participation of women on postgraduate courses – both internationally and at Oxford.
By targeting support at women from low to middle-income countries, the Optiver Foundation Scholarship Programme will play an important role in increasing postgraduate diversity in STEM subjects at Oxford, as well as contributing to a more a diverse workforce in the longer term.
topEligibility
Up to six scholarships are available to females who are ordinarily resident in an eligible country and who are applying to start an eligible master's course at Oxford in October 2026.
For selection purposes we will include all candidates on relevant courses who have indicated on the postgraduate application form that their sex is female. The sex on the application form must match that shown in identity documents, e.g. passport or visa, but does not have to be the applicant’s legal sex. Transgender people may be able to obtain a passport or visa in a binary sex other than their legal sex.
Please review the information below to see the complete list of eligible courses and countries.
Eligible Courses
- MSc Energy Systems (Engineering Science)
- MSc Advanced Computer Science
- MSc Mathematical and Theoretical Physics
- MSc Mathematical Modelling and Scientific Computing
- MSc Mathematical Sciences
- MSc Mathematics and Foundations of Computer Science
- MSc in Quantum Technologies
- MSc Statistical Science
- MSc Theoretical and Computational Chemistry
Eligible Countries
- Afghanistan
- Albania
- Algeria
- Angola
- Argentina
- Armenia
- Azerbaijan
- Bangladesh
- Belarus
- Belize
- Benin
- Bhutan
- Bolivia
- Bosnia And Herzegovina
- Botswana
- Brazil
- Burkina Faso
- Burundi
- Cabo Verde
- Cambodia
- Cameroon
- Central African Republic
- Chad
- China
- Colombia
- Comoros
- Congo, Dem. Rep.
- Congo, Rep.
- Cote D'ivoire
- Cuba
- Djibouti
- Dominica
- Dominican Republic
- Ecuador
- Egypt, Arab Rep.
- El Salvador
- Equatorial Guinea
- Eritrea
- Eswatini
- Ethiopia
- Fiji
- Gabon
- Gambia, The
- Georgia
- Ghana
- Grenada
- Guatemala
- Guinea
- Guinea-Bissau
- Haiti
- Honduras
- India
- Indonesia
- Iran, Islamic Rep.
- Iraq
- Jamaica
- Jordan
- Kazakhstan
- Kenya
- Kiribati
- Korea, Dem. People's Rep.
- Kosovo
- Kyrgyz Republic
- Lao PDR
- Lebanon
- Lesotho
- Liberia
- Libya
- Madagascar
- Malawi
- Malaysia
- Maldives
- Mali
- Marshall Islands
- Mauritania
- Mauritius
- Mexico
- Micronesia, Fed. Sts.
- Moldova
- Mongolia
- Montenegro
- Morocco
- Mozambique
- Myanmar
- Namibia
- Nepal
- Nicaragua
- Niger
- Nigeria
- North Macedonia
- Pakistan
- Papua New Guinea
- Paraguay
- Peru
- Philippines
- Rwanda
- Samoa
- Sao Tome And Principe
- Senegal
- Serbia
- Sierra Leone
- Solomon Islands
- Somalia
- South Africa
- South Sudan
- Sri Lanka
- St. Lucia
- St. Vincent And The Grenadines
- Sudan
- Suriname
- Syrian Arab Republic
- Tajikistan
- Tanzania
- Thailand
- Timor-Leste
- Togo
- Tonga
- Tunisia
- Turkey
- Turkmenistan
- Tuvalu
- Uganda
- Ukraine
- Uzbekistan
- Vanuatu
- Venezuela, RB
- Vietnam
- West Bank And Gaza
- Yemen, Rep.
- Zambia
- Zimbabwe
Students currently at Oxford are not eligible to apply.
This scholarship is not open to applications from candidates who hold deferred offers to start in 2026-27.
topHow to apply
To be considered for this scholarship, submit your application for graduate study by the relevant November, December, or January deadline for your course, and tick the relevant box on the graduate application form.
If you meet the advertised eligibility criteria, we will ask you to complete an additional scholarship application form to ask about your socio-economic situation and to assess for potential disadvantage and under-representation.
What happens after you apply?
- Applicants who have completed the additional application form, who meet the eligibility criteria, and who receive an offer from an eligible course will be assessed for the scholarship by a panel of academic staff, based on academic merit and potential.
- Successful candidates will be contacted with a scholarship offer.
- If you are offered, and accept, a scholarship, this means your funding is now secure as long as you meet the conditions of your offer of a place to study at Oxford.
All successful applicants will be contacted by email and the majority of offers are sent out in May.
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