Charles Wallace Pakistan Trust Scholarship, an Opportunity for Pakistan Students

The Charles Wallace Pakistan Trust (CWPT), established in 1981, is a registered United Kingdom Charity. The Trust was originally administered by the British Council, and is now run independently, though the British Council provides support of various kinds in the United Kingdom and in Pakistan. The Trust is managed day-to-day by a Secretary who reports to a Board of Trustees.

About Charles Wallace

Charles Wallace, is a British businessman and entrepreneur who flourished in India in the late 19th century and died in London in 1916, aged 60. After making provision for his family, he left his estate to be divided between the British Treasury and the Treasury of British India. In his Will, he further directed that “All possessions great and small being acquired through the people, as mine were, should return to the people”. As a result, Trusts were set up in the United Kingdom including for Pakistan, with the central purpose of assisting them to obtain education and professional development in the United Kingdom.

Activities of the Charles Wallace Pakistan Trust

CWPT’s trustees have the authority to use the income from the Trust’s funds to benefit Pakistanis who are normally resident in Pakistan by enabling them to advance their professional development or doctoral studies in the United Kingdom in ways specified below. Administrative costs are kept to a minimum, and almost 90% of CWPT’s investment income is spent on the Trust’s educational work. This consists of four separate programs:

Doctoral Bursaries

Twice a year, in late May and early December, awards are granted to doctoral students in certain disciplines from Pakistan who are already in the UK and who are normally in their final year, or anticipating the final year, of their PhDs, and who need additional funding to help them complete their studies. The Trust is not primarily a hardship fund and all applicants are required to demonstrate academic excellence as well as financial need. Our maximum grant is normally £1,000, so applicants must have funds from other sources to cater for most of their needs. The disciplines eligible for support are restricted to the following:

• The humanities, arts, and creative industries
• The social sciences and social development
• The life sciences including medicine.

How To Apply

Applicants must complete CWPT’s Application Form and submit it as an e-mail attachment to the Secretary of the Trust (see above for contact details). The application should be accompanied, also in the form of an on-line attachment, by a supporting letter on headed paper from the applicant’s supervisor. Other documents testifying to the applicant’s background and achievements to date should be kept to a minimum but a short CV of not more than two pages is welcome. Applicants should not normally apply more than 15 months ahead of their expected completion date. The two annual deadlines are the end of the first week in May and the end of the first week in November. Applicants will be informed of their success or otherwise soon after the Trustees’ meetings in late May and early December.

Reserved Visiting Fellowships

Charles Wallace Reserved Visiting Fellowships are funded by the Trust but offered by the CWPT’s UK partners, such as SOAS and Nottingham University (see below). The fellowships enable Pakistani academics and professionals to undertake short working visits to these institutions with the aim of broadening their professional knowledge, skills and contacts. The content of a fellowship normally takes the form of professional interaction, study and research. The duration of a fellowship varies from three weeks to a maximum of three months. An all-inclusive monthly stipend of £1,450 is offered by the Trust, together with a contribution towards a return economy air fares and UK visa costs, but there is no provision for course or bench fees.

Candidate Specifications

The selection criteria adopted by each partner institution varies and each has its own application requirements. Common to all is the need for a full curriculum vitae, and a clear statement of what the applicant proposes to achieve during the fellowship period. In some cases the focus is on offering research facilities to early or mid-career scholars who may have had little or no prior academic experience outside Pakistan. In others, the Visiting Fellow might be a more senior academic or professional practitioner who will be expected to participate in high-level interactions with her or his peer group. In every case, the selection is made by the host institution and is endorsed by the British Council in Pakistan and by the Charles Wallace Pakistan Trust in the UK.

Open Fellowships

Charles Wallace Open Visiting Fellowships, offered under a partnership between the British Council in Pakistan and the Charles Wallace Pakistan Trust in the United Kingdom, enable Pakistani men and women to undertake short visits to the UK in order to broaden their professional knowledge, skills, and contacts. Eligible candidates are Pakistani nationals, residing in Pakistan. They are normally junior or mid-career professionals or academics aged between 30 and 50, working in the following disciplines:

• The humanities, arts, and creative industries
• The social sciences, and social development
• Science for social purposes (but excluding lab-based scientific research).

Up to 12 fellowships are awarded annually. Candidates who have never travelled abroad for study or professional purposes will have a modest advantage in the selection process.
Content, duration, finance and administration

Visiting fellowships normally take the form of two principal activities: professional familiarization and interaction; and study and research. The duration of a fellowship varies from three weeks to a maximum of three months. An all-inclusive monthly stipend of £1,450 is offered by the Trust, also a contribution towards a return economy air fare and the costs of a UK visa, but there is no provision for course or bench fees.

Visiting Artists

The Charles Wallace Visiting Artists Programme enables arts practitioners from Pakistan to spend time in the UK on arts residencies or for training and familiarization purposes. Currently, these are mainly drawn from the visual arts, but other art forms, including the creative industries, can also qualify for support’. The duration of stay in the UK can vary from 3 weeks to 3 months, and an all-inclusive monthly stipend of £1,450 will be paid by the Trust, also a contribution towards a return economy air fare and UK visa costs. There is no provision for course or bench fees. Most UK arts institutions find it difficult to provide facilities for Visiting Artists so this is inevitably a small program.

Please note that there is no provision for Bachelors or Master’s degree students. The Trust is firmly committed to equal opportunities in all its activities. For further information and details about the program, kindly visit http://www.wallace-trusts.org.uk/cwt_pakistan.html.