For more detailed information on applying for a particular course, please click on the relevant links on the left-hand menu.

Applying to MMLL

All applications must be made via the Applicant Portal which is available on the central Postgraduate Admissions website.

It is important that you read through the information available on the Postgraduate Admissions Office website before submitting your application.

If you are seeking funding for your course, there are specific deadlines and eligibility criteria for each funding competition, please see below.

Please see the links on the left hand side of this page for further information on applying, including which supporting documents are required for your application, how to find a supervisor, and more.

The Faculty welcomes and encourages applications from prospective postgraduate students from underrepresented groups, and is participating in the Close the Gap project.

Funding

For 2024/25 Entry: deadlines for applicants seeking funding

There are many funding opportunities at Cambridge from a wide variety of sources including the Cambridge Trust, Gates Cambridge, Colleges, Departments, Research Councils, and central University funds.

The Postgraduate Admissions Office publishes information about the University's central funding competitions for Postgraduate Students on their website, which includes information about how to apply, deadlines, and other useful information.

Competition for funding is extremely high so we strongly advise that applicants apply for as many funding opportunities as possible.

There are three main funding deadlines to consider:

• 16 October 2024: deadline for Gates US funding (for US citizens resident in the US)

• 3 December 2024: deadline for all other central funding competitions for all MMLL PhD courses, as well as the MPhil in Linguistics and Language Sciences (by Advanced Study or By Thesis)

• 7 January 2025: deadline for all other central funding competitions for the MPhil in Literature, Culture and Thought and the MPhil in Film and Screen Studies (both by Advanced Study or By Thesis)

Central university competitions include the following sources:

• Gates (US & International Competitions) (MPhil and PhD)
• Cambridge Trust (MPhil and PhD)
• AHRC (PhD only)
• ESRC (Linguistics PhD and CCL PhD)

For the university's central funding competitions, no separate application form is necessary (except for AHRC). Applicants will need to apply for admission before the required deadline and tick the relevant boxes to be considered for funding.

We recommend that applicants prepare their supporting documentation and apply well in advance of the final deadlines, as no exceptions can be made for those who miss their deadline.  The Faculty can only consider applications with a complete set of supporting documents, and it is the applicant's responsibility to ensure that all documentation (including references) has been supplied.

Even if you are not seeking funding, we strongly recommend that you submit your application before 7 January 2025, as courses can fill up, and applications will no longer be accepted once programmes are full.

If places are still available on programmes beyond this deadline, self-funded applicants will continue to be considered until the final deadline of 16 May 2025 (or 25 February 2025 if you are applying for an MPhil in Linguistics and Language Sciences).

Courses may reach capacity and applications may close early, please refer to the Postgraduate Admissions Office Course Directory for advice regarding final deadlines.

Please note that funding from Cambridge is highly competitive and therefore students are also advised to do their own research on other funding sources including the Colleges. At least two thirds of our MPhil students are self funded (including those with loans).

Funding decisions are made separately to admissions decisions, and it is possible that students receive an offer of admission without an offer of funding, so it is important to apply for any funding opportunities available to you, both internal and external to Cambridge.

Faculty funding

• Tiarks and Schröder scholarships (German Studies, MPhil and PhD)
• Gibson Spanish Scholarship (PhD)

Other funding

• Mallinson MPhil Studentship (ELAC MPhil) - Clare College 
• Sykes Postgraduate Research Studentships in Italian (MPhil)
• Alice and James Penney PhD Studentship, Trinity College (European Literature)
• Scandinavian Studies Fund
• Cambridge Funding Search
• How to apply for central University funds
• External funding
• UK/EU Student Loans