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Faculty for the Future Fellowship (Schlumberger Foundation)

Faculty for the Future is the Schlumberger Foundation's fellowship for women from developing and emerging economies who are doing doctoral or post-doctoral research in science, technology, engineering or mathematics at a university abroad. It is one of the largest privately funded awards a Sri Lankan woman researcher can access: grants are made against actual eligible costs up to a maximum of USD 50,000 a year for a PhD — roughly LKR 16 million — and up to USD 40,000 a year for a post-doc, and they are renewable through to completion, subject to satisfactory progress and continued funding. The host institution can be anywhere abroad; in practice fellows are spread across universities in the United States, the United Kingdom, continental Europe, Canada and Australia. The programme's purpose is deliberately narrow and it shapes every part of the selection. The Foundation is trying to increase the number of women in senior academic and research positions in their own countries, so it wants applicants who already have teaching experience at home and who commit to going back to a university or research institute there. If you are a demonstrator, lecturer or research assistant at a Sri Lankan state university and you want a doctorate abroad without giving up your post, this is close to purpose-built for you. Two hard limits catch people out. Master's programmes are not eligible at all — this is PhD and post-doctoral funding only. And applicants who hold dual citizenship with a developed country are excluded, regardless of where they live. Applications typically open in early September and close in early November, more than a year before the funded year begins.

The call normally opens around 1 September and closes in the first week of November for the following academic year. Check the Schlumberger Foundation site for the current cycle's exact dates and country list

Schlumberger Foundation

External Organization-funded

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PhD Award

Up to USD 50,000 a year (LKR ~16M), based on actual costs

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Post-Doc Award

Up to USD 40,000 a year (LKR ~12.8M)

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Renewable

Yes, through to completion on satisfactory progress

info How this award actually works

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This is a separate, highly competitive application

Awards from external organisations like this one run their own selection round against applicants from across the world, and success rates are usually in the low single digits. Lanka Scholar does not administer it and cannot submit it for you. Treat it as a bonus on top of a funded study plan — never as the plan itself.

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Who awards it

Schlumberger Foundation — not Lanka Scholar. We are not the awarding body and cannot grant, reserve or guarantee this award.

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How you are considered

Through a separate application round run by the funder, with its own forms, deadlines and shortlisting. You submit it yourself — it is not part of a university admission application.

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What it covers

Up to USD 50,000 a Year for a PhD (LKR ~16 Million), USD 40,000 for a Post-Doc — Renewable. Read the terms carefully: even fully-funded awards rarely cover every cost, and any shortfall is yours to fund.

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Where we come in

We help you judge whether this award is worth your time, and build a realistic admission plan that works whether or not you win it.

fact_check Eligibility Criteria

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Women From Developing and Emerging Economies

The fellowship is for women who are citizens of a developing country or emerging economy where women are under-represented in STEM. The Foundation publishes an eligible-country list for each cycle — confirm Sri Lanka's status on the current list before you invest time in the application.

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No Dual Citizenship With a Developed Country

Applicants holding dual citizenship with a developed country are not eligible. This is checked and it is absolute, so a Sri Lankan researcher who also holds, for example, Australian or Canadian citizenship cannot apply.

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PhD or Post-Doc in STEM Only

You must be preparing for or engaged in doctoral or post-doctoral research in a STEM field. Master's programmes are explicitly excluded. Physical sciences, engineering, computing, mathematics, life sciences, agriculture and related applied fields all qualify.

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Applied To, Admitted By, or Enrolled at a Host Abroad

You need a concrete link to a host university or research institute outside your home country — an application in progress, an admission offer, or current enrolment. A vague plan to study abroad is not enough.

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Prior Teaching Experience at Home

The Foundation looks for evidence that you have already taught or mentored in your home country. For Sri Lankan applicants, time as a temporary lecturer, demonstrator or instructor at a state university or technical institute is exactly the kind of record that counts.

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Commitment to Return and Teach

You must intend to return to Sri Lanka to a university or research institute and contribute to building STEM capacity here. Fellows are asked about this at application and are tracked afterwards. This is a return-oriented fellowship, not a migration pathway.

account_tree Application Process

Line up your host institution first

Identify a supervisor and a PhD or post-doc position abroad, and get at least an application in progress before the call opens in September. The strength of the research fit is a major part of the assessment.

Build the case around Sri Lankan STEM capacity

Explain which Sri Lankan institution you will return to, what you will teach or research there, and why that capacity does not currently exist. Applications that read as personal career plans do worse than those framed as institution-building.

Prepare the cost breakdown carefully

Grants are made against actual eligible costs, not a flat sum. You will need a realistic budget covering tuition, living costs, health insurance and travel at the host institution. Over-inflating costs is transparent to reviewers; under-budgeting leaves you short.

Submit within the September–November window

The application opens around 1 September and closes in the first week of November. Late applications are not considered and the portal closes on time.

Selection and notification

Review runs over the following months, with results usually communicated in the first half of the following year — in time for an autumn start at most host universities.

Renewals depend on progress

The award is renewable but not automatic. You submit progress reports and a renewal application each year. Plan for the possibility that the total duration of your doctorate exceeds the funding you eventually receive.

Why Faculty for the Future?

The Schlumberger Foundation launched Faculty for the Future in 2004 and has since supported hundreds of women researchers from more than eighty countries. The programme is unusual among corporate-foundation awards in two ways: it funds research degrees rather than short courses, and it explicitly measures success by how many fellows end up in academic and leadership positions back home. For Sri Lanka, where the pipeline from a good BSc to a funded overseas doctorate is thin and where women are well represented in undergraduate science but not in senior engineering and physical-science faculties, it addresses precisely the gap. The fellowship also carries no obligation to work for the sponsoring company.

USD 50,000

Maximum annual PhD grant (LKR ~16M)

2004

Programme launched

80+

Countries of past fellows

Looking for a scholarship because of the cost?

Then start here instead. Scholarships are competitive, usually partial, and decided by someone else — they are the least reliable way to make studying abroad affordable. Your destination and course choice move the number far more, and both are entirely within your control.

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