The Charles Wallace Bangladesh Trust

The Trust helps Bangladeshi nationals to pursue postgraduate study and professional development in the UK. The Board of Trustees has the authority to use the income from the Trust’s funds for Bangladeshis who are normally resident in Bangladesh to enable them to ‘follow courses of study, research or other educational pursuits which will advance the education of the said individual’. Administrative costs are kept to a minimum, and over 90% of the Trust’s investment income is spent on the Trust’s educational work. This is currently biased towards final-year doctoral students but occasional help is given to mid-career professionals needing to undergo short-course professional training in the UK.  The Trust cannot be a source of primary funding as it has only very limited resources. Most awards are for no more than a few hundred pounds.

There is no provision for Bachelors and Masters degree students, nor for attending international conferences.

Twice a year, in May and November, awards are granted to individual students already in the UK who are normally in the 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 £1,500, so applicants must have funds from other sources to cater for most of their needs

Applicants must complete the Trust’s Application Form and submit it, either in hard copy or as an e-mail attachment, to the Secretary of the Trust (see above for contact details).  The application should be accompanied 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. Applicants should not normally apply more than 15 months ahead of their expected completion date. The two annual deadlines are 1 May and 1 November. Applicants will be informed of their success or otherwise soon after the trustees’ meetings in late June and late November.

Following the same timetable as Doctoral bursaries (see above), the Trust is in principle willing to offer limited financial support (maximum grant Pnds 750) to enable mid-career professionals, normally aged between 35 and 45, to attend short professional-development training in the UK.  The eligible courses must last at least two weeks. Disciplines are unrestricted but the trustees reserve the right to assess the usefulness of the training both to Bangladesh and to the individual concerned.  For these applications preference is given to candidates who have had little or no prior training or experience outside Bangladesh. Please note that Professional Training Bursaries are normally payable to the UK course organizers who can either pass them on to the trainee or accept them towards course fees. 

Applicants must complete the Trust’s Application Form and submit it, either in hard copy or as an e-mail attachment, to the Secretary of the Trust (see above for contact details).  The application should be accompanied by an acceptance letter from the UK course organizers and a prospectus of the course. Although most applications will conform to the timetable outlined under Doctoral Bursaries (above), short-course applications can be received throughout the year.