One award. Full overseas tuition. A living stipend set at the UKRI doctoral rate. And a hard rule that you must already hold an Imperial Chemistry offer before you even ask to be considered.
That is the Jack Hirst Scholarship — a rare, Nigeria-only postgraduate award in the Department of Chemistry at Imperial College London. It is not an undergraduate grant and it is not a PhD studentship. It funds a full-time Chemistry Master’s (MSc or MRes) for a new incoming student.
If you are a Nigerian chemist already based at a Nigerian university, this is one of the few routes that can take the entire fee-and-living-cost problem off the table. Because only one award is made, the people who win it treat the admission offer as the real first deadline, not the scholarship email.
Scholarship Summary
- Host Country: UK
- Host University: Imperial College London
- Scholarship Type: MSC Scholarships
- Eligible Countries: Nigeria
- Scholarship Benefits: Full tuition fee, Monthly Stipend, etc.
Why this Scholarship is Different from Generic “Imperial Funding” Posts
Most UK scholarship round-ups treat Imperial as a giant pot of money. The Jack Hirst Scholarship is the opposite: tightly targeted, historically specific, and operationally simple.
It exists because of a Nigeria–Imperial connection. Professor Jack Hirst taught for many years at the University of Ibadan. A later gift in his memory, from the late Mrs Alice Hirst, created support for talented Nigerians in Chemistry at Imperial.
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That history matters for applicants. This is not a diversity slogan pasted onto a general fund. The selection pool is Nigerian chemists already working or studying Chemistry in Nigeria. If you cannot prove that, the department says applications cannot be considered.
What the Jack Hirst Scholarship actually pays
According to Imperial’s official scholarship record, the award covers:
- Full tuition fees at the Overseas rate
- A stipend equivalent to the annual UKRI rate
The Chemistry department’s own scholarships page is more specific: full Master’s tuition plus a bursary equal to the current UKRI PhD bursary rate for students in London.
UKRI updates that rate each year. As a reference point, the London-weighted UKRI minimum stipend from 1 October 2026 is £23,805. The 2027/28 figure will follow the next UKRI announcement. Check the live rate on UKRI’s student support page before you budget.
What this usually means in practice:
- The overseas fee invoice is covered
- You receive a living bursary aligned with the London UKRI doctoral rate
- You still need to plan for visa costs, the Immigration Health Surcharge, flights, deposits, and the gap between offer and first stipend payment
Imperial does not publish a separate “Jack Hirst extras” package (bench fees, travel grant, family allowance) on the 2027/28 listing. Assume tuition plus stipend unless the department confirms otherwise in writing.
Browse other Imperial awards here: Search Imperial scholarships
See Also:
- Yale University Scholarships 2026 | Fully Funded Aid That Opens the Doors of an Ivy League Education
- Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship: Fully Funded Tuition Scholarship
- The National Merit Scholarship Program: What It Really Takes to Qualify, Win, and Turn Recognition Into Real College Money
Who Can Apply (Every Condition is Mandatory)
You must meet all of the following.
- You are a Nigerian national
- At the time of application you are studying or conducting research in Chemistry at a Nigerian academic institution
- You have received an offer for an eligible Chemistry Master’s course at Imperial
- You are a new entrant, not a continuing Imperial student
The official 2027/28 page still uses “2026 entry” language in the eligibility paragraphs, while listing the academic year as 2027/2028 and the deadline as 21 May 2027. Treat that as a page-copy issue, not a licence to guess. Confirm the correct entry year with chemres@imperial.ac.uk and on the live scholarship page before you apply.
You are not eligible if:
- You are already on the course
- You are not a Nigerian national
- You are not currently in Chemistry at a Nigerian academic institution
- You only intend to apply for a course but do not yet have an offer
- You want an undergraduate degree or a standalone PhD through this scheme
The department is blunt on this point: applications that do not meet the nationality and Nigerian-institution Chemistry criteria cannot be considered.
Eligible Chemistry programmes
The scholarship applies only to these postgraduate Chemistry programmes:
- MRes in Advanced Molecular Synthesis
- MRes in Biological and Physical Chemistry
- MRes in Catalysis: Chemistry and Engineering
- MRes in Chemical Biology and Bio-Entrepreneurship
- MSc in Digital Chemistry
- MRes in Drug Discovery and Development: Multidisciplinary Science for Next Generation Therapeutics
- MRes in Green Chemistry, Energy and the Environment
- MRes in Nanomaterials
- MRes in Synthetic Cells
Course catalogue for the department: Chemistry Master’s courses
Choose the programme that matches the research you are already doing in Nigeria. A green chemistry applicant with a weak digital-chemistry story is easier to reject than a candidate whose current lab work maps onto one course.
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How to apply for the Jack Hirst Scholarship
There is no secret portal that replaces admission. The scholarship sits on top of a successful course application.
Step 1: Apply for an eligible Chemistry Master’s course
Use Imperial’s postgraduate application system, My Imperial. Chemistry uses application rounds, so check the deadline on your chosen course page rather than assuming the scholarship date is the admissions date.
You will typically need:
- Academic transcripts
- Degree certificate or statement of results
- References
- A personal statement aimed at that specific MRes/MSc
- Proof of English language ability if required
- CV / research summary for research-heavy MRes courses
- Payment of any advertised application fee
Apply early. An offer that arrives on 20 May is a high-risk plan when the scholarship cutoff is 21 May.
Step 2: Receive (and, where the department requires it, accept) the offer
The 2027/28 scholarships-search page says you must have received an offer. The Chemistry department page for the current cycle also says applicants should have applied, received and accepted an offer, and completed a scholarship form.
For the 2027/28 cycle, Imperial states that the application form will be available in due course. Watch both:
The 2026 cycle form (for reference only) lived on Qualtrics. Do not assume the same link will be used next year.
Step 3: Email the Department of Chemistry by the deadline
Email chemres@imperial.ac.uk by 23:59 UK local time on 21 May 2027, clearly stating that you wish to be considered for the Jack Hirst Scholarship.
A usable email includes:
- Full name and Imperial application / CID number
- Nigerian nationality
- Current Nigerian institution and Chemistry role (student or researcher)
- The exact course and offer status
- A one-paragraph case for fit
- Attachments only if the live form or department instructions request them
Late email = no consideration. “My referee was slow” is not an exception Imperial advertises.
Timeline that actually works
Work backwards from 21 May 2027.
- Now to early 2027: Shortlist one or two eligible courses. Line up referees. Draft a research-aware personal statement.
- As soon as the relevant admissions round opens: Submit the course application.
- After the offer: Accept if required, complete the scholarship form when it appears, and send the consideration email.
- 21 May 2027, 23:59 UK time: Scholarship cutoff.
- After the award: Student visa, CAS, accommodation, and proof of funds for any costs the scholarship does not pre-pay. Start with UK student visa guidance and Imperial’s offer conditions.
Do not wait until April 2027 to discover that Chemistry’s admissions round already closed.
How to Make a one-award Application Competitive
Imperial will not publish a scoring rubric. The published rules still tell you what “serious” looks like.
Prove the Nigeria test in one page. Passport or nationality evidence, plus a letter or ID from your Nigerian university showing you are studying or researching Chemistry there now. Alumni who have already left the institution are on weaker ground than the wording allows.
Make the course choice look inevitable. Cite modules, techniques, or supervisors that continue work you are already doing: catalysis, nanomaterials, chemical biology, green chemistry, digital chemistry, drug discovery, synthetic cells.
Treat the offer as the filter. Weak applications never reach the scholarship desk. Strong transcripts, a coherent research story, and referees who can talk about laboratory ability matter more than a dramatic scholarship email.
Write the email like a file header, not a speech. Name, course, offer, institution, request. Save the narrative for the form.
Do not apply as a continuing student. The listing repeats this because people try it.
Common Mistakes that Kill Otherwise Strong Files
- Emailing ChemRes without an offer
- Applying to a non-listed degree (Engineering, Life Sciences, a PhD, or an undergraduate course)
- Using a non-Nigerian passport or dual-status story that does not satisfy “Nigerian national”
- Claiming a Nigerian affiliation that is honorary, remote, or already finished
- Missing the 23:59 UK time cutoff
- Assuming the 2026 Qualtrics form is the 2027 form
- Ignoring the entry-year wording conflict on the 2027/28 page and never asking the department to confirm
Related Funding and Official Pages worth Reading
The Jack Hirst Scholarship cannot be stacked as a second full package if Imperial awards you another full Chemistry Master’s scholarship. The department notes that applicants may apply to more than one scheme if eligible, but only one can be awarded.
Useful official links:
- Jack Hirst Scholarship 2027/2028
- Jack Hirst Scholarship 2026/2027 (previous cycle, for comparison)
- Department of Chemistry scholarships
- All Imperial scholarships
- How to apply for postgraduate study
- UKRI stipend information
- Background on the Hirst gift
Questions go to the department, not to social-media summaries: chemres@imperial.ac.uk
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the Jack Hirst Scholarship fully funded?
It is fully funded for overseas tuition plus a UKRI-rate living stipend. Budget separately for visa, health surcharge, travel, and arrival costs.
Can undergraduates apply?
No. This is a postgraduate taught / Master’s research award.
Can PhD applicants use it?
Not as a doctoral studentship. The listed programmes are Chemistry MSc and MRes courses.
How many people get it?
One.
Do I apply before I have an Imperial offer?
No. Get the offer first, then request scholarship consideration by the deadline.
When is the deadline?
21 May 2027 at 23:59 UK local time, according to the 2027/28 official listing.
Final Check Before You Start
If you are a Nigerian chemist currently based at a Nigerian university, and you can see yourself on one of the nine listed Imperial Chemistry Master’s courses, the Jack Hirst Scholarship is worth building a year around. The money is real. The quota is one. The process is unforgiving about offers and deadlines.
Start with the course application, not the scholarship email. Then read the live official page again the week you submit, because Imperial updates cycle pages and forms as the year turns.
Department page: Chemistry Master’s scholarships
Imperial’s own news archive records that origin story here: Science educators remembered with donations to the Department of Chemistry.