External Funding & Prizes
Algerian Studies Master's Prize
The Society for Algerian Studies and the LSE Middle East Centre are delighted to announce the launch of a prize aimed at Master’s students in the UK conducting research on Algeria. Designed to encourage and celebrate outstanding research, prizes will be awarded to the most innovative and significant Master’s dissertations focussing on Algeria.
BIAA Grants & Opportunities
The British Institute at Ankara (BIAA) provides a number of different funding opportunities, grants and awards to support academics at all stages of their career. These include:
- Research project funding
- Research positions at the BIAA
- Support for academic visits to the UK and Turkey
- Facilitation support
BIPS Research & Travel and Research Grants
The British Institute of Persian Studies (BIPS) supports UK-based post-doctoral researchers and UK-based students to carry out humanities and social science research into Iran and the Persianate world through the award fo research and travel grants. BIPS usually invites grant applications three times a year - in January, April and October.
BISA Funding
To be eligible for BISA (British International Studies Association) funding you must be a current member and remain a member throughout the funding period. Your research or teaching should relate to International Studies. Funding opportunities offered by BISA include:
- Early Career Small Research Grants (ECSRGs)
- Founders' Fund
- Learning and Teaching Small Grants
BISI Grants
The British Institute for the Study of Iraq (BISI) offers a range of annual grants and scholarships to assist academic work and education on Iraq in the areas of the arts, humanities, and social sciences including:
- University and Museum Engagement Grants (Deadlines: 1 April and October)
- Research and Conference Grants (Deadline: 1 February)
- Pilot Project Grants (Deadline: 1 February)
- Nahrein Network - BISI Visiting Iraqi Scholarship Scheme (15 February)
British Yemeni Society Research Grant
As part of its educational mission, the British–Yemeni Society offers a £500 grant annually to assist with academic study related to Yemen. Applications are invited from anyone carrying out research in, or on Yemen, at a British or Yemeni University.
CBRL Grants & Prizes
Council for British Research in the Levant (CBRL) maintains a broad and highly active engagement in research and offers a variety of funding opportunities for scholars working on and in the Levant. Each year, CBRL also offers prizes for the best undergraduate and master's dissertations in Levantine Studies.
The EJW Gibb Memorial Trust
The Gibb Memorial Trust offers two annual scholarships to students undertaking doctoral research in the field of the Trust's activities.
The Gibb Memorial Trust’s Centenary Scholarship of up to £2,000 is available to postgraduate students at an advanced stage of their doctoral research in any area of Middle Eastern Studies (7th century to 1918) at a British university.
The A. H. Morton Memorial Scholarship for Doctoral Research in Classical Persian Studies is for a maximum of £3,000 and can be applied to any year of a course of doctoral study at a British university, including for an approved period of study abroad.
International Postgraduate Scholarship – Middle East and North Africa (SOAS)
The International Postgraduate Scholarship is designed to award new entry 2022 postgraduate students with outstanding academic performance.
• Value: £3,000 (fee waiver)
• Number of scholarships available: 4
• Selection criteria: academic merit and a 250-word statement
Mohammed Al Fahim Scholarship (LSE)
This new scholarship opportunity is available for an applicant who is a national of and domiciled in the Middle East or North Africa (Arab League member states, Iran, Israel and Turkey) to support the costs for any taught master's programme in the 2022/23 session. An element of the LSE Master’s degree programme should be relevant to the study of the MENA region. The applicant’s undergraduate degree should have been taken in a MENA state.
BRAIS Prize 2025
This international prize is awarded annually to one outstanding doctoral thesis. English-language submissions on any aspect of the academic study of Islam and the Muslim world, past and present, including Muslim-minority societies are accepted. Applicants can be based in any country. Manuscripts will be assessed on the basis of scholarly quality and originality, rigour in scholarship, use of source material, contribution to the field and clarity of expression.
Database of Expertise
The Database of Expertise in Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies provides a publicly available list of MENA experts with their research and areas of expertise.
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