Weidenfeld-Hoffmann Scholarships and Leadership Program for developing countries, University of Oxford, UK

Application deadlines: January, 2021, exact day depends on selected program

The Weidenfeld-Hoffmann Scholarships and Leadership Programme cultivates the leaders of tomorrow by providing outstanding university graduates and professionals from developing and emerging economies with the opportunity to pursue fully-funded graduate studies at the University of Oxford, combined with a comprehensive programme of leadership development, long-term mentoring and networking.

This scholarship is part of the Oxford Graduate Scholarships, which were established through a ground-breaking new matched funding initiative to enable the creation of fully-funded scholarships for graduate students of the highest calibre from across the world. The University contributes 40% of the funds for these scholarships, together with 60% from generous donations provided by supporters of the Weidenfeld-Hoffmann Trust, including Fondation Hoffmann. Fondation Hoffmann is a Swiss-based grant making institution supporting the emergence and expansion of concrete projects which address global problems in today’s societies.

The Leadership Programme is a unique part of these scholarships, and more information on this can be found on the Weidenfeld-Hoffmann Trust website. 

The scholarship will cover 100% of course fees and a grant for living costs (of at least £15,285). Awards are made for the full duration of your fee liability for the agreed course.

Partnership Schemes 

In addition to the Oxford-Weidenfeld and Hoffmann Scholarship and Leadership Programme the Weidenfeld-Hoffmann Trust also has a partnership with the Louis Dreyfus Foundation and Chevening. The scholarships also benefit from partnerships with multiple colleges where the college contributes a portion of the funding and therefore successful candidates will be transferred to a partner college when taking up the scholarship.

Scholarship outcomes

Decisions are expected to be made by the end of May 2021.  If you have not heard from us by this time, then please assume that your application has been unsuccessful. Due to the volume of applications we receive, we regret that we are unable to contact unsuccessful applicants individually or provide feedback on applications.

You must be applying to start a new graduate course at Oxford.

Please review the information below to see the complete list of eligible courses.  You must also be ordinarily resident in one of the eligible countries listed.

Eligible courses 

• BCL Bachelor of Civil Law
• MBA Master of Business Administration
• MJur Magister Juris
• MPP Master of Public Administration and Policy
• MSc African Studies
• MSc Biodiversity, Conservation and Management
• MSc Comparative Social Policy
• MSc Computer Science
• MSc Contemporary Chinese Studies
• MPhil in Development Studies
• MSt Diplomatic Studies
• MSc Economics for Development
• MSc Education (Comparative and International Education)
• MSc Education (Higher Education)
• MSc Energy Systems
• MSc Environmental Change and Management
• MSc Evidence-Based Social Intervention and Policy Evaluation
• MSc Financial Economics
• MSc Global Governance and Diplomacy
• MSc Global Health Science
• MSc International Health and Tropical Medicine
• MSt Islamic Studies and History
• MSt Jewish Studies
• MSt Korean Studies
• MSc Latin American Studies
• MSc Law and Finance
• MSc Mathematical Modelling and Scientific Computing
• MSc Migration Studies
• MSc Modern Middle Eastern Studies
• MSc Modern South Asian Studies
• MSc Nature, Society and Environmental Governance
• MSc Refugee and Forced Migration Studies
• MSc Social Science of the Internet
• MSc Sustainability, Enterprise and the Environment
• MSc Water Science, Policy and Management

Eligible countries

• Afghanistan
• Albania
• Algeria
• Angola
• Antigua and Barbuda
• Argentina
• Armenia
• Azerbaijan
• Bahamas
• Bahrain
• Bangladesh
• Barbados
• Belarus
• Belize
• Benin
• Bhutan
• Bolivia
• Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Botswana
• Brazil
• Brunei Darussalam
• Bulgaria
• Burkina Faso
• Burundi
• Cambodia
• Cameroon
• Cape Verde
• Central African Republic
• Chad
• Chile
• China
• China Tibet
• China, Hong Kong SAR
• China, Macau SAR
• Colombia
• Comoros
• Congo, Dem. Rep.
• Congo, Rep.
• Costa Rica
• Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast)
• Croatia
• Cuba
• Cyprus
• Czech Republic
• Djibouti
• Dominica
• Dominican Republic
• Ecuador

• Egypt
• El Salvador
• Equatorial Guinea
• Eritrea
• Estonia
• Ethiopia
• Fiji
• French Guiana
• Gabon
• Gambia, The
• Georgia
• Ghana
• Grenada
• Guatemala
• Guinea
• Guinea-Bissau
• Guyana
• Haiti
• Honduras
• Hungary
• India
• Indonesia
• Iran
• Iraq
• Israel
• Jamaica
• Japan
• Jordan
• Kazakhstan
• Kenya
• Kiribati
• Korea (North)
• Korea (South)
• Kosovo
• Kuwait
• Kyrgyzstan
• Lao PDR
• Latvia
• Lebanon
• Lesotho
• Liberia
• Libya
• Lithuania
• Macedonia, FYR
• Madagascar
• Malawi
• Malaysia
• Maldives
• Mali
• Marshall Islands
• Mauritania
• Mauritius
• Mexico
• Micronesia
• Moldova
• Mongolia
• Montenegro
• Morocco
• Mozambique
• Myanmar (Burma)
• Namibia
• Nauru
• Nepal

• Niger
• Nigeria
• Oman
• Pakistan
• Palau
• Palestinian territories
• Panama
• Papua New Guinea
• Paraguay
• Peru
• Philippines
• Poland
• Qatar
• Réunion
• Romania
• Russian Federation
• Rwanda
• Saint Helena
• Samoa
• São Tomé and Príncipe
• Saudi Arabia
• Senegal
• Serbia
• Seychelles
• Sierra Leone
• Singapore
• Slovakia
• Slovenia
• Solomon Islands
• Somalia
• South Africa
• South Sudan
• Sri Lanka
• St Kitts and Nevis
• St Lucia
• St Vincent and the Grenadines

• Sudan
• Suriname
• Swaziland
• Syria
• Taiwan (Republic of China)
• Tajikistan
• Tanzania
• Thailand
• Timor-Leste (East Timor)
• Togo
• Tonga
• Trinidad and Tobago
• Tunisia
• Turkey
• Turkmenistan
• Tuvalu
• Uganda
• Ukraine
• United Arab Emirates
• Uruguay
• Uzbekistan
• Vanuatu
• Venezuela
• Vietnam
• Western Sahara
• Yemen
• Zambia
• Zimbabwe

You should be intending to return to your country of ordinary residence once your course is completed. Students currently at Oxford are not eligible to apply unless they are already Weidenfeld-Hoffmann scholars. 

You should be able to demonstrate a connection between your subject of study and your longer-term career objectives, explaining how you see your professional work contributing to the improvement of public life in your country of origin or at a wider regional or international level. 

The above qualities will be assessed during the selection process, including using your graduate application form, your Weidenfeld-Hoffmann Scholarships Questionnaire and (if relevant) your interview.

This scholarship is not open to applications from candidates who hold deferred offers to start in 2021-22.

n order to be considered for this scholarship, you must select the Weidenfeld-Hoffmann Scholarships and Leadership Programme in the University of Oxford Scholarships section of the University’s graduate application form and submit your application for graduate study by the relevant January deadline for your course. See the relevant course page for the deadline applicable to your course.  

You must also complete a Weidenfeld-Hoffmann Scholarships Statement and upload it, together with your graduate application form, by the deadline.docx Weidenfeld-Hoffmann Scholarships Statement form for 2021-22 entry256.53 KB

We will use the details you insert in the ‘Nationality and ordinary residence’ section of the graduate application form to assess your country of ordinary residence. For a definition of ordinary residency and further details on how to complete this section of the graduate application form, please see the Nationality and Ordinary residence sections of the graduate application form and the advice contained with the Application Guide.

To be eligible for consideration for this scholarship, applicants must be successful in being offered a place on their course after consideration of applications received by the relevant January deadline for the course. Course applications which are held over after the January deadline to be re-evaluated against applications received by the March deadline or course applications which have been put on a waiting list are not eligible for scholarship consideration.

If you are shortlisted for the scholarship, you will be required to participate in an interview, which is likely to be held online in April/May 2021.

College preference

All graduate students at the University of Oxford benefit from membership not only of their department, but also of one of our multi-disciplinary colleges. Applicants may select a preferred college as part of their application or leave the allocation of a college to the University. The Weidenfeld and Hoffmann scholarships and leadership programme benefit from partnerships with multiple colleges where the college contributes a portion of the scholarship and therefore successful candidates will be transferred to a partner college in order to take up the scholarship. 

Source / More information: Official Website.