Grant

MSC Student Research Grants 2026/27 (up to GBP 10,000)

Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), Ocean Stewardship Fund

Closes 28 February 2027, 129 days left No fee to apply Last checked 3 Oct

At a glance

Deadline: Closes 28 February 2027, 129 days leftThe posting gives a date, not a time. Days left are counted in Lagos time.
Fee: No fee to apply
Who may apply: A current Master's or PhD student in fisheries science, or an undergraduate who has secured a postgraduate place by the project start
Where: Your own research location; apply online

A research grant of up to GBP 10,000 for Master's and PhD students in fisheries science to fund travel, equipment and fieldwork for a project with a fishery that is MSC certified or working towards the MSC Fisheries Standard; past grants went to students in Kenya, South Africa and Madagascar.

The facts

What you get: Up to GBP 10,000 for project costs (travel, accommodation, equipment, research costs); salary costs are not covered
Where: Your own research location; apply online
How long: Projects of up to 12 months (18 in exceptional cases), starting July to September 2027

Where you stand

This one is free. There is no fee to apply, and nobody should ask you for money at any point.

What they ask for

A current Master's or PhD student in fisheries science, or an undergraduate who has secured a postgraduate place by the project start
A supervisor for the project and the support of an eligible fishery partner (MSC certified, in the MSC Improvement Program, a Stage 4 Pathway Project, or a Comprehensive FIP)

Get ready to apply

Built only from what this listing states.

The application takes real work, by our reading.

1. What to get ready

The listing does not say what it needs. When you open their page, write down everything it asks for before you start.

2. Dates

Closes 28 February 2027, in 129 days.
On the date, the listing says: Deadline 23:59 UTC on 28 February 2027. Projects start between July and September 2027.
Aim to send it by 25 February 2027. Websites slow down near a deadline, and data runs out. Our advice

Download checklist (.txt) Send to WhatsApp

The download is a small text file. You can read it later without data. It also lists each condition they set, so you can tick yourself against them. WhatsApp sends the same list to you, or to somebody helping you.

No CV yet? Make a plain one from your answers. Nothing you type is kept.

Tips for applying for a grant

General advice from us, the same for every grant. It is not what this organisation says; that is above.

Say what the money is for, exactly, and how much of it goes where. A simple budget in a table is enough.
Describe what you have done so far, with numbers you can prove: customers, people served, sales, months running.
Check whether they need your business registered, and in which country.
Answer their questions in their order. Reviewers score each one.

If there is an interview or a test

Expect questions on your numbers. Know them without reading them.
Be ready to say what happens to the project if you do not get the grant.

All our tips and messages to copy. Practise answering, with nothing kept. Received an offer? Check whether it is real, then read before you say yes.

How to apply

You apply on Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), Ocean Stewardship Fund's own website, not here. We never send an application for anybody and we never ask you for anything to pass on. Check their page for anything not shown here.

Go to the application

How we checked this

This was opened and verified at Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), Ocean Stewardship Fund's own website on 3 October 2026: it was real, still open, and open to people from African countries. If anything here is wrong, tell us.