University of Birmingham AI and Data Science Scholarships for Masters Students in the UK, 2024

Application is now open for the University of Birmingham AI and Data Science Scholarships. Interested applicants are encouraged to send their applications in before the deadline date.

About the University of Birmingham and Scholarship

Birmingham, England’s University of Birmingham is a public research institution often known as Birmingham University. As the 1875-founded Mason Science College (founded by Sir Josiah Mason) and Queen’s College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as the Birmingham School of Medicine and Surgery), it was the first English unitary university and the first civic or “red brick” university to receive a royal charter.

To help students from underrepresented backgrounds advance into the AI and Data Science field, the University of Birmingham is providing Master’s Scholarships in AI and Data Science for nine Masters programs in 2024–2025. This scholarship initiative will support more than 100 students from underrepresented categories, including women, Black and disabled students, and students from low-socioeconomic families. Women, Black students, students with disabilities, and students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds will get priority scholarship funding to guarantee that AI accurately represents society. Only students from underrepresented groups who fulfill the requirements listed below are eligible for funding.

Details about the University of Birmingham AI and Data Science Scholarships:

Scholarship Sponsor: University of Birmingham, UK

Scholarship Value: £10,000

Number of awards: Several

Study level: Masters

Host Institution(s): University of Birmingham, UK

Courses: Artificial Intelligence (AI), Data Science

Eligibility Criteria for the University of Birmingham AI and Data Science Scholarships

The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) and the Office for Artificial Intelligence have allocated £8.1 million for this award, which aims to encourage more women, Black students, disabled students, and students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds to enroll in postgraduate programs in artificial intelligence (AI) and data science. Full details of the eligibility criteria are provided below.

• Students must be citizens of the UK or be in permanent residency.
• Before applying for this scholarship, students must have already submitted an application for enrollment in one of the University of Birmingham’s above-mentioned approved courses. Your application for the scholarship will be rejected if you apply without first submitting a study application for one of the courses listed above that meet the eligibility requirements.

Candidates must not only show that they have applied for a spot in a University of Birmingham master’s program in data science or artificial intelligence (AI), but also that they fall into at least one of the nine underrepresented groups that the OfS has recognized.

First, a points-based system will be used to review scholarship applications. Applicants in the following categories will receive priority consideration for these awards:

1. Black students (as defined by HESA codes: 21; 22; 29; 41; 42)
2. Female students
3. Disabled students
4. Students from low socioeconomic backgrounds (Index of Multiple Disadvantage quintiles 1 and 2, low household income)

They may also be available to:

• Care experienced students
• Estranged students
• Gypsy, Roma, and Traveller students
• Refugees
• Children from military families, veterans, and partners of military personnel.

Candidates who don’t fit any of the aforementioned requirements won’t be considered for a scholarship.

To pay for their tuition, students must be self-sufficient or apply for a Postgraduate Government Loan; they cannot receive any other kind of financing, including bursaries, awards, scholarships, or sponsorship.

Selection Criteria

Merit shall be the determining factor in award distribution; fulfillment of eligibility requirements alone does not ensure award acceptance. The institution will use a collected field method in which one scholarship selection panel will make all of the judgments on the distribution of all 100 scholarships.

A panel of university scholarship recipients will select recipients based on the following standards:

• Underrepresented group score – A point-based approach will be used to evaluate each submission, and criteria-based priority scoring will be applied. 
• Aptitude and skills – Scholarships will take an aptitude exam result into account. The Scholarship Panel will rank students according to how well they do on the online aptitude test.
• Student motivation – The panel will take into account the student’s enthusiasm for the subject, their capacity to show that their prior education adequately prepared them for the program, any relevant work experience, and how the course will fit into their long-term goals.

Prioritizing criteria in case of oversubscription

All applications will be considered and priority scoring will be given to criteria 1-3.

Scoring will be prioritized:

• Students said they belonged to two or more marginalized groups.
• Black students are underrepresented in highly skilled work and makeup only 5% of new Postgraduate taught admissions at the University of Birmingham in 21/22. This justification for the decision was made. 426-234 were new entries. 23.4% was the largest distinction attainment difference across all ethnic groups in 20/21. reduced percentage of non-completion compared to White or Mixed people.
• Despite being the majority of new PGT entrants at the University of Birmingham, female students are underrepresented in the IT sector, which is the basis for the enrollment of these students.
• Disabled students, because they are underrepresented in highly skilled work and the second most underrepresented category at the University of Birmingham, with 501 new entries in 22/23.

Please view the website for the full terms and conditions of the scholarship.

Application Process for the University of Birmingham AI and Data Science Scholarships

Applicants must have completed both of the following before the deadline to be eligible for an award:

• Made an application to their intended Master’s program. Please apply through the relevant program page on the Course Finder section of the University of Birmingham website. All necessary supporting materials, such as references, transcripts (where available), and, if required, an English language certification, must be included.

1. MSc Health Data Science
2. MSc Law, Regulation, and AI Ethics
3. MSc AI and Sustainable Development
4. MSc Computer Science
5. MSc Data Science
6. MSc Financial Technology
7. MSc AI and Government
8. MSc Bioinformatics
9. Online MSc Bioinformatics

• Fill out the AI and Data Science Masters Scholarships application form.

The application ID number that you were given while applying to your master’s program should be entered.

The following dates are the deadlines for online applications for the MSc Bioinformatics scholarship:

• March 2024 Intake – 23:59 (UK time) on 19 January 2024.

The rewards for all other programs, starting in September 2024, will be given out in three rounds:

• The deadline for round one applications is 23:59 (UK time) on Sunday 31 March 2024.
• The deadline for round two applications is 23:59 (UK time) on Sunday 30 June 2024.
• The deadline for round three applications is 23:59 (UK time) on Saturday 31 August 2024.

You do not need to reapply if you are not selected in the first round; your application will be automatically carried over to the next one. You can visit the official website for further details.

The Application Deadline is: August 31, 2024

Not interested in this particular scholarship? See other UK scholarships here.