Skip to content
Churchill College Logo
  • Quick Links
    • Think Forward
    • Conferences
    • Archives Centre
    • Fellows
    • Staff Resources
  • Latest News
  • Events
  • Alumni and Supporters
  • Study At Churchill
  • Student Hub
  • 50 Years of Women
  • Donate
Hamburger menu icon
Search button

Quick Links

  • Quick Links
    • Think Forward
    • Conferences
    • Archives Centre
    • Fellows
    • Staff Resources
Twitter logo Facebook logo Instagram logo YouTube logo LinkedIn Logo Pinterest Logo
  • About the College

    About the CollegeView Page

    • List Left Col Wrapper
      • Celebrating 50 Years of Women at Churchill College
      • Churchill Identity

        Churchill IdentityView Page

        • Music at Churchill
        • History of the College
        • Churchill, Empire and Race
        • Women at Churchill
        • Grounds & Gardens
        • Publications and Recordings
      • Music at Churchill

        Music at ChurchillView Page

        • Instruments
        • Music Scholarships and Bursaries
        • Churchill Music Society ChuMs
        • Inter Alios Choir
        • Orchestra on the hill
      • News and Events

        News and EventsView Page

        • Upcoming Events
        • Events Calendar
      • Working at Churchill

        Working at ChurchillView Page

        • Current Vacancies
        • Academic Vacancies
        • Staff Resources
      • Master and Fellowship

        Master and FellowshipView Page

        • Fellowship Directory
        • Fellowships at Churchill College
        • Academic Vacancies
        • Nobel Prize Winners
    • List Right Col Wrapper
      • Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
      • The Chapel
      • Visit Us
      • Staff Directory
      • Conferences
  • Study At Churchill

    Study At ChurchillView Page

    • List Left Col Wrapper
      • Undergraduates

        UndergraduatesView Page

        • List Left Col Wrapper
          • Study At Churchill
          • Apply | Undergraduates
          • Courses | Undergraduates
          • Fees and Costs | Undergraduates
          • Application FAQs | Undergraduates
          • Online Q&As and Schools Liaison
          • Visit Us
        • List Right Col Wrapper
      • Postgraduates

        PostgraduatesView Page

        • List Left Col Wrapper
          • Applying to Churchill
          • How to apply
          • Fees and costs
          • Life at Churchill
          • Accommodation | Postgraduate
          • Partners and families
          • MCR Committee
          • CHUtalks
        • List Right Col Wrapper
          • Visit Us
    • List Right Col Wrapper
      • Executive Education
      • Meet Our Students
  • Student Hub

    Student HubView Page

    • List Left Col Wrapper
      • Living at the College

        The CollegeView Page

        • Clubs and Societies
        • Map of Cambridge
        • Upcoming Events
        • Events
        • Music at Churchill
        • Share your news
        • Graduation
      • College Dining

        College DiningView Page

        • College Bar (The Buttery)
        • Formal Halls
        • Weekly Menus
      • Health, Welfare & Support

        Health, Welfare & SupportView Page

        • College Nurse and Surgery
        • Counselling Services
        • Welfare and Medical Support
        • Financial Support
    • List Right Col Wrapper
      • Quick Links
      • Resources
  • Alumni and Supporters

    Alumni and SupportersView Page

    • List Left Col Wrapper
      • Giving to the College

        Giving to the CollegeView Page

        • How to give
        • Making a Tax Efficient Gift
      • Why give?

        Why give?View Page

        • Think Forward
        • How you can help us to go forward
        • Making a Tax Efficient Gift
        • Current Projects
      • Get Involved

        Get InvolvedView Page

        • Events
        • Churchill Connect
    • List Right Col Wrapper
      • Current Projects
      • Contact Us
  • Archives
  • Contact Us
  • Conferences

    ConferencesView Page

    • List Left Col Wrapper
      • What We Offer

        What We OfferView Page

        • Accommodation
        • AV Equipment
        • Bespoke Conferencing
        • Dining
        • Grounds and Facilities
        • Grounds and Tours
      • Our Meeting Rooms
      • Christmas Functions
      • Pricing
      • Contact Us
    • List Right Col Wrapper
Back to list

Michael Palmer

International Relations and Politics at Churchill (G18)

“I can’t stress enough what a massive weight off my mind it was to receive the funding from Churchill. Now, I have flexibility, and when I graduate I won’t come out with crippling debt.”

Michael is from Brighton and recently completed an MPhil in International Relations and Politics at Churchill.

He attended state-run Brighton Hove and Sussex Sixth Form College and completed his undergraduate degree in Cambridge at Robinson College where he studied Human Social & Political Sciences (HSPS). Following graduation, Michael built on his interest in Politics by completing a three month internship with the Constitution Unit, a think-tank that carries out research on referendums and political discourse.

Keen to pursue his studies further, he made the decision to apply to Churchill because of the funding available, and was delighted to be awarded a Churchill College Archives MPhil Studentship. The Archives Studentship, which covers full course fees and living expenses, is worth £27,260. Securing the funding had a major impact on Michael’s ability to both take up the course, and make the most of other opportunities that became available to him. For example, he was able to spend two months in France developing his language skills in advance of starting his course.

I can’t stress enough what a massive weight off my mind it was to receive the funding from Churchill. Without the funding I would have tried to find a way of taking up the course by taking out a Postgraduate Master’s loan, but this would only have covered my course fees. I would have had to earn more money and take on more debt and there is no doubt that I would have been on an extremely tight budget. The funding gave me flexibility and I did not have to graduate with crippling debt.

Michael particularly enjoyed the research element of his MPhil which focused on how much influence the Foreign Office had inside the UK Government over European Policy between 1997 and 2016. He lived on-site in graduate accommodation on 70s Storey’s Way and really enjoyed the excellent facilities available at the College. He had already made use of the Archives Centre’s online Oral History Programme to help prepare for his MPhil application and hugely valued having the resources of the Archives Centre on his door-step.

In his spare time Michael played the viola, joined the French Society and Europe Society and made the most of the MCR, including the MCR Formals.

There is no doubt that his experience has made him keen to get the message out there about the importance of providing funding opportunities for graduate students.

The provision of funded Studentships gives people options. Not only does undertaking a Masters’ programme provide a crucial platform for students interested in pursuing a PhD, but it is also becoming an increasingly important route to progressing your career.

 

Read more stories here

Cambridge University Logo

Follow us:

Twitter logo Facebook logo Instagram logo YouTube logo LinkedIn Logo Pinterest Logo
  • Student Hub
    • Quick Links
    • Events
    • Health, Welfare & Support
    • Resources
  • Study At Churchill
    • Undergraduates
    • Postgraduates
    • Meet Our Students
    • College Clubs and Societies
  • Alumni and Supporters
    • Giving to the College
    • Why give?
    • Current Projects
    • Get Involved
    • Contact Us
  • About the College
    • Churchill Identity
    • Staff Directory
    • Working at Churchill
    • Visit Us
    • Contact Us
  • Archives Centre
    • Our Collections
    • Visit us
    • Copies and Research
    • Online Resources
    • About Us
  • Conferences
    • What We Offer
    • Our Meeting Rooms
    • Christmas Functions
    • Pricing
    • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Statutes and Ordinances
  • Official Documents
  • Race Equality
Website design by Crucible

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish.

Churchill College
Powered by  GDPR Cookie Compliance
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.

3rd Party Cookies

This website uses Google Analytics to collect anonymous information such as the number of visitors to the site, and the most popular pages.

Keeping this cookie enabled helps us to improve our website.

Please enable Strictly Necessary Cookies first so that we can save your preferences!