Gibson Spanish Scholarship Fund
Postgraduate students (for academic year 2026/2027) and final year undergraduate students for MPhil in 2026/27.
Deadline for application: Friday, 1 May 2026 (for Scholarships for the academic year 2026-2027)
The Electors entrusted with the administration of the Gibson Spanish Scholarship Fund give notice that they are prepared to receive applications for election to the Gibson Spanish Scholarship.
The Scholarship is open to any person who is or is about to be registered as a Graduate Student of the University.
The duty of the Scholar, as per the request of the benefactor, Mrs Margaret Dunlop Gibson who donated funds in memory of her husband, James Young Gibson, translator of works by Cervantes, will be to carry out advanced study or research in Spanish Literature, understood broadly, to include Literature in Spanish in any country where Spanish has official status.
The Scholarship will be to a value of no more than £3,000 and will be tenable for one, two, or three years. Recipients of the Gibson Spanish Scholarship may reapply for further funding in subsequent years but should know that a successful application does not guarantee a future award.
Applications must be accompanied by a statement of the course of advanced study or research which candidates propose to undertake if elected, an account of estimated funds from elsewhere and a curriculum vitae with two academic references (to be sent by the referees by the given deadline) must be sent to the Section email: spanport@mmll.cam.ac.uk by 1 May 2026.
The election will be announced in July 2026.
Duration: the Scholarship will be offered for one year but applicants may reapply, subject to satisfactory progress and provided that the total tenure of the Scholarship does not exceed 3 years.
Administering Office: Spanish and Portuguese Section, Faculty of Modern and Medieval Languages and Linguistics, University of Cambridge, Sidgwick Avenue, Cambridge CB3 9DA, UK.
Statutes and Ordinances, 2018
- The amount of the benefaction of Mrs M D Gibson for the endowment of a Scholarship in Spanish Literature, together with any additional funds which may be available, shall form a fund to be called the Gibson Spanish Scholarship Fund.
- The administration of the Fund shall be entrusted to four Electors who shall be the Head of the Department of Spanish and Portuguese and three persons appointed by the Faculty Board of Modern and Medieval Languages in the Michaelmas Term to serve for three years from 1 January following their appointment. Three Electors shall form a quorum.
- There shall be established a scholarship to be called the Gibson Spanish Scholarship. It shall be the duty of the Scholar to undertake advanced study or research in Spanish Literature, according to a scheme to be approved by the Electors.
- The Scholarship shall be offered in the Easter Term of every year and the Electors shall meet to consider the applications of candidates before the end of that term.
- The Scholarship shall be tenable for one, two, or three years, as determined by the Electors; a Scholar elected for one or two years shall be eligible for re-election, provided that the total tenure of the Scholarship shall not exceed three years.
- The Scholarship shall be open to any person who is, or is about to be, registered as a Graduate Student in the University. Election to and tenure of the Scholarship shall lapse if the person elected does not become or ceases to be a registered Graduate Student.
- The Electors shall determine the form in which applications for the Studentship shall be made and the person to whom, and the date by which, they are to be submitted.
- The Electors may take such steps as they may think fit to inquire into the qualifications of candidates, provided that the Scholarship shall not be awarded by competitive examination.
- The stipend of the Scholar shall be such sum as shall be determined by the Electors within a range approved from time to time by the Council. The stipend shall be paid in such instalments as shall be determined by the Electors, provided that the Electors may withhold payment of any instalment if they are not satisfied that the Scholar is pursuing his or her course of study or research with sufficient diligence.
- The Scholar shall not during the tenure of the Scholarship systematically follow any business or profession or engage in educational or other work which in the opinion of the Electors would in any way interfere with his or her course of research.
- Any accumulated income of the Fund may be used from time to time at the discretion of the Electors and subject to such conditions as they may think fit (a) to provide the stipend of one or more additional Scholars; (b) to make grants to Scholars to assist them in prosecuting their research.
- These regulations shall be subject to alteration by Grace, provided that the income of the Fund shall always be devoted to the endowment of a scholarship for the encouragement of the study of Spanish Literature in the University, to be called the Gibson Spanish Scholarship.