New scholarship fund brings Sudanese scholars to Wolfson

"Wolfson is immensely grateful for the visionary support from the Omidyar Trust for students from Sudan and South Sudan. The incredible response that we received to the announcement of the scholarship fund amply demonstrates the need for support to these students, who have had such challenging paths to higher education. We are delighted to be able to welcome these impressive students to Wolfson in the coming academic year." 

Simon Crookall, Development Director

The announcement about the Wolfson College Pam Omidyar Scholarship for Students from Sudan was met with an overwhelming response: posts on social media reached more than 200,000 hits and over 400 enquiries related to the scholarship were made in December alone. Nearly 300 applications were received from eligible students by the University, the majority of which specified Wolfson as their first-choice College. The scholarship is a game-changer for inspiring students whose lives and livelihoods have been disrupted by civil war to imagine that there might be a place for them in Cambridge. 

As a result of the applications, eleven Sudanese students secured an offer of admission to the University for entry in Michaelmas 2024. Although the initial gift was only enough to cover the fees for a single MPhil studentship, given the strong academic records and compelling stories of the individual applicants, the Cambridge Trust agreed to partner with the College and contribute a further sum per student to cover full fees and maintenance costs for two students to enable them to take up their place. 

While Wolfson was only able to secure full studentships for two Sudanese students with Omidyar funds in 2025, three others have received full funding from elsewhere: two MPhil students – one at Wolfson and one at Girton College – will be reading for master’s degrees as part of the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program, and one Wolfson student will begin a PhD funded by the Medical Research Council.

Wolfson is grateful for the generosity of the Omidyar Trust that has enabled us to extend our support for students from conflict zones and we are delighted that the Trust has recently agreed to provide funding for a similar scholarship in 2025.

Learn more

To learn more about the Wolfson College Pam Omidyar Scholarship for Students from Sudan, please visit the University Funding Management Portal.  No separate application for the scholarship is required:  students now apply for all scholarships as part of their application for admission to the University.  In order to be considered for an award, students must apply for the admission by the funding deadline for their course, list Wolfson College as their first choice, and tick the boxes in the application to indicate that they wish to be considered for University funding and for the Omidyar Scholarship.