David Sainsbury International MSc Scholarships

What is a Scholarship?

A Scholarship is an award or payment made to support a student’s education, awarded on the basis of academic and other achievements.

The David Sainsbury Full MSc Scholarship is a direct contribution by TSL to the tuition fee paid to UEA and a cash contribution in the form of a maintenance grant and travel expenses. Therefore, the Full MSc Scholarship can fund up to the full cost of the course and living expenses.

The 50% Fee Scholarship is a direct 50% contribution by TSL to the tuition fee paid to UEA.

The David Sainsbury Full MSc Scholarship

Full MSc Scholarship Eligibility Criteria

You are eligible for a David Sainsbury Full MSc Scholarship under these Terms if you meet all these criteria:

You are in receipt of an offer of a place on the UEA MSc in Global Plant Health;
You are a national of or domiciled in a least-developed, low-income, or lower-middle-income country or territory as defined by the Overseas Development Agency Development Assistance Committee (DAC) list that applies in the relevant academic year. The list that applies at the time of issue of these terms is the 2024-25 list.

The Value of The Full MSc Scholarship

Each Full MSc Scholarship will cover up to the full cost of the tuition fee (£35,450 for 2025/26), maintenance grant (to be confirmed; UKRI PGR level stipend was £19,237 in 2024/25) and an additional £4,000 for travel costs (subject to valid economy class travel receipts), minus any other awards or scholarships you are in possession of. Payment of the fee will be made by TSL directly to UEA and no alternative/equivalent monetary payment will be made for this element of the Full MSc Scholarship.

The David Sainsbury 50% Fee Scholarship

50% Fee Scholarship Eligibility Criteria

You are eligible for a David Sainsbury 50% Fee Scholarship under these Terms if you meet all these criteria:

You are in receipt of an offer of a place on the UEA MSc in Global Plant Health;
You are NOT a national of or domiciled in a least-developed, low-income, or lower-middle-income country or territory as defined by the Overseas Development Agency Development Assistance Committee (DAC) list detailed above. For example, you are a national of and domiciled in an upper-middle income country or higher income country (including the UK) according to this list. Thus, all applicants are eligible to be considered for either a Full MSc Scholarship OR a 50% Fee Scholarship.

The Value of The 50% Fee Scholarship

Each 50% Fee Scholarship will cover up to 50% of the full cost of the tuition fee (50% of either £17,975 Home or £35,450 international fees for 2025/26), minus any other awards or scholarships you are in possession of that cover more than 50% of the fee. Payment of the fee will be made by TSL directly to UEA and no alternative/equivalent monetary payment will be made for this element of the 50% Fee Scholarship.

General Terms and Conditions

Please also refer to the General Regulations for Students from UEA (the University).

If successful, you will be registered and enrolled with UEA as a full-time postgraduate taught student for the MSc in Global Plant Health under UEA’s Degree Regulations set out in the University Calendar. You must abide by UEA’s Charter, Statutes, Ordinances, Regulations and Policies in force.

We may make changes to these Terms from time to time and the version that is applicable to you will be the one in force on the date a Scholarship offer is communicated by email.

We have complete discretion to decide how long we will make the Scholarship scheme available, for what period of time the Scholarship scheme will operate, and we may withdraw the Scholarship scheme at any time and without further notice.

Contributions to the tuition fee will be made directly by TSL to UEA. No alternative/equivalent monetary payment will be made in respect of the fee.

The maximum period that an annual Scholarship will be applied to your account for a specific postgraduate programme is one year (12 months) for full-time students.

Please note that Scholarship awards cannot be deferred to a subsequent year. If you do defer your entry to the course, then any Scholarship award will be removed. You will be considered for whatever Scholarships are available the following year, but any award cannot be guaranteed.

Please note that until a Scholarship is awarded in accordance with these Terms, you remain liable to pay your deposit, full tuition and other fees to UEA in accordance with UEA’s General Regulations on Fees, Charges and Expenses and must be able to meet all of your costs without relying on the Scholarship.

Withdrawal of Scholarship

We may remove the Scholarship immediately if:

You are expelled, suspended or excluded from the whole or part of the University or your programme of study for academic failure; or
We are of the reasonable opinion that you have made any misrepresentation (whether negligently or intentionally) to us either in respect of applying for the course and/or Scholarship or during the course of and in connection with your studies at the University; or
We are of the reasonable opinion that you have acted fraudulently or dishonestly in connection with securing your Scholarship or place at the University.
You do not abide by the TSL Scientific Integrity Policy and the TSL Code of Personal Conduct.
In addition to requiring repayment, we may also take such action against you as is permitted under the Student Disciplinary Procedures or Fitness to Study Policy which are set out and available from the University Calendar. In the event of a period of interruption to your studies, including parental leave, any payments will be suspended until you return and progress to the next stage of your course.

We may withdraw the Scholarship and halt further payments immediately if you fail to:

Attend the required formal academic induction and welcome events at the start of the course or fail to provide TSL with communications when requested
Demonstrate satisfactory commitment to and progression within your studies. Scholarship holders are expected to maintain strong engagement with the course, and perform at their best academic standard in line with our ethics and integrity policies. To facilitate this, they would be expected to live within reasonable commuting distance of TSL.
Pass each and every module.
Remain in good financial standing with the University. Scholarship instalments may not be paid if you have overdue tuition or accommodation charges for which you are liable.
Inform TSL that you are receiving another scholarship or other form of funding.

Repaying the Scholarship

In the event that your Scholarship is removed, you will be liable to pay us your full tuition fees and maintenance grants, as appropriate, and therefore reimburse us the monetary amount equating to your Scholarship, immediately on demand.

If we have made an error in calculating your Scholarship and as a result you have received an additional amount to which you were not entitled, we may request that you repay us the amount overpaid and you will be liable to repay it to us within 30 days of our demand.

In addition to any other rights, we may have at law to take action against you for recovery or repayment, the amount so outstanding will be treated by us as a sum due to us.

Variation of The Scholarship

We will unilaterally vary the amount of the Scholarship, so that the Scholarship you actually receive never equates to more than the stated amount for that academic year if we receive information suggesting that your anticipated tuition fee (on which the Scholarship was initially calculated) for that academic year is expected to change or has changed, for reasons including but not limited to:

a. where you receive a refund in accordance with the University’s then existing Postgraduate Tuition Fees Refund Policy,

b. where you cease to be registered with the University for any reason, including if you have withdrawn from your studies or your studies have been terminated earlier than the expected completion date;

c. where you change your programme of study;

d. where you take a period of interruption from your programme of study;

e. you cease to meet the Eligibility Criteria and from that date; or

f. you fail to progress satisfactorily on your programme of study and from a date we reasonably determine.

In any of these situations and depending on your facts, you may be liable to make additional payments to the University or the actual monetary value of the Scholarship you receive from us may increase.

Agreement to Participate in UEA and TSL Marketing and Promotion

You will be required to make yourself available, on reasonable notice, for any publicity and marketing campaigns we want to run in connection with the Scholarship scheme. This may include, but not be limited to, public appearances, speeches, blogging and/tweeting, interviews or photographs and providing student testimonials which can be used in publicity material.

You must also be prepared to complete a testimonial at the end of the course outlining how your studies at TSL/UEA have helped towards your career goals. We will also request that an update is provided one year after graduation. Students may also be asked to assist at TSL/UEA Open Days where their academic programme allows, or to make themselves contactable by prospective students, to answer simple questions about TSL/UEA and/or their course of study.

How We May Use Your Personal Information

We will use the personal information you provide to us to process your enrolment and administer the Scholarship scheme. We will retain all documents we receive in connection with the Scholarship scheme along with your other student records in accordance with the University Data Protection Policy and the TSL Privacy Policy.

Once you are enrolled at UEA, TSL will contact you using your TSL email account. It is your responsibility to check this account regularly for important information regarding payment of your David Sainsbury Scholarship, and any other requests relating to the Scholarship scheme.

The David Sainsbury Scholarships

Eligible Programmes

The David Sainsbury Scholarship may be offered by us in respect solely of the UEA MSc in Global Plant Health hosted at The Sainsbury Laboratory.

Schedule

The element of a Scholarship that cover fees will be paid by TSL directly to UEA in accordance with UEA’s General Regulations for Students. Payments are typically in three instalments at regular intervals throughout the academic year.

The element of a Full MSc Scholarship that covers a maintenance grant will be paid by TSL monthly in advance to the Scholarship awardee.

The element of a Full MSc Scholarship that covers economy class travel expenses will be paid to the Scholarship awardee only when evidenced by valid receipts.

The Process

Provided we are satisfied that you meet our Eligibility Criteria we will automatically consider your candidature for the Scholarship on a competitive basis.

No separate application is necessary to be considered for a David Sainsbury Scholarship. Scholarships will be awarded based on the application form submitted to UEA to enrol on the MSc in Global Plant Health before the deadline on the UEA website. If you do not provide us with the required information for application when prompted, or if you provide us with incomplete or incorrect information, we will not be able to process your Scholarship application further.

Eligible applicants who are in possession of an offer of a place on the course will be evaluated for a Scholarship based on the same criteria used to evaluate their applications to enrol on the course at UEA/TSL.

The criteria are: academic achievement and academic awards together with knowledge/experience/potential of molecular biology, genetics, molecular interactions in plant health, data science such as bioinformatics and statistics, laboratory skills, and independent study.

A Scholarship Panel will decide who to offer a Scholarship to using these criteria. Provided we are satisfied that you meet our Eligibility Criteria, and you are chosen by the Scholarship Panel as the preferred recipient, you will receive your Scholarship offer via email in a timely manner.

The number of Scholarships will be limited by affordability. We may therefore withdraw the availability of Scholarships at any time including after your application is submitted to UEA.

If no candidate is judged to be of sufficient merit by the Scholarship Selection Panel, Scholarships will not be awarded. No person will be awarded this Scholarship more than once.

Receipt of a David Sainsbury Scholarship is subject to a completed Scholarship Agreement Form being signed and submitted by the given deadline as formal acceptance of the award. TSL reserves the right to withdraw the offer of a Scholarship if it is not accepted by the given deadline.

It is your responsibility to inform the UEA Development Office of your acceptance of the David Sainsbury Scholarship as required.

If you wish to decline a Scholarship offer from us prior to registering at the University, please email msc@tsl.ac.uk. We will then withdraw our Scholarship offer and confirm this in writing. Any offer of a place on one of UEA’s courses would not be affected.

We reserve the right to adjust Scholarship eligibility criteria up until the application deadline, provided the change(s) do not make applications already submitted ineligible or disadvantage them in any way.

Awards

The expected value of the Scholarship is advertised on the TSL website and is indicated above. The final amount awarded is confirmed in writing at point of Scholarship offer or as soon as possible thereafter if subject to updates from UEA and/or UKRI.

Receipt of your Scholarship is subject to your completion of the University registration process by the given deadline.

It is your responsibility to ensure that any change in bank account details is advised to TSL and, as appropriate, the University. If you plan to change your course, interrupt or withdraw from your course, you are expected to inform TSL, the University and the UEA Development Office as soon as possible as this could affect your eligibility for the Scholarship.

October 2025