The Hilary and Galen Weston Foundation Scholarship

The Hilary and Galen Weston Foundation Scholarship is a collaboration between the Hilary and Galen Weston Foundation and Trinity Business School (TBS) aimed at supporting young people in Ireland from underrepresented socio-economic backgrounds to access postgraduate education and develop specialisms in sustainable business by studying the MSc in Responsible Business & Sustainability at Trinity Business School. This will ensure there is a legacy for the Weston family in an area which matters deeply to them, supporting young people in a country where it has such strong roots.

The Hilary and Galen Weston Foundation Scholarship is open to students from underrepresented socio-economic backgrounds who are Irish nationals or have been resident in the Irish State for three of the last five years. Furthermore, students cannot be already qualified at masters level or higher and need to meet the criteria of admission for the MSc Responsible Business & Sustainability at Trinity Business School in the 2025-26 academic year. To be awarded the scholarship, students need to accept the offer of a place in the MSc Responsible Business & Sustainability at Trinity Business School.

The scholarship covers full EU fees (€16,250) for the MSc Responsible Business & Sustainability programme as well as a monthly stipend of €1,515 covering Michaelmas, Hilary, and Trinity term of the academic year (i.e. 10 months in total, Sept 2025- June 2026).

Eligibility

Students from underrepresented socio-economic backgrounds face situations, such as:

• Receiving government funding for low-income households during their undergraduate studies (for example, the HEAR access route, SUSI, the 1916 Bursary Fund).
• Being in care as a looked-after child for at least 13 weeks since the age of 14 and being aged under 25 on the first day of the course.
• Being estranged from their parents and being aged under 25 on the first day of the course.
• Being a carer for an ill or disabled family member.
• Being from a minority group.
• Coming from a deprived area.
• Coming from an area where it is unusual for people to go to university.
• Being the first in the family to go to university.
• Having a disability in conjunction with socio-economic factors, as described above

Please note that this list is indicative but not exhaustive. It is essential that applicants back up their eligibility with relevant documentation, as part of their application.

Applicants are advised to refer to official statistics and data from Irish institutions, government, local authorities or registered civil society organizations to support their application. Pobal, for example, offers deprivation statistics and maps which can be used to understand how deprivation is distributed geographically across the country. In addition, we note that documentation proofing eligibility for the funding schemes described in the first point above (i.e., HEAR, SUSI, 1916 Bursary Fund) and/or proof of received funding support from these schemes are considered suitable to support the application for this scholarship.

Application Process

Students wishing to be considered for this scholarship should submit their CV, supporting documentation for eligibility, plus a report of no more than 1,000 words with details of a) how they meet the eligibility criteria for this scholarship, (b) how they have addressed challenges in their undergraduate studies (and at work, if applicable), (c) why they have chosen this particular MSc programme and (d) how it will contribute to their longer-term goals. Your application should consist of a single pdf file containing all the requested documentation.

Please send your application as a single email attachment to business.masters@tcd.ie before 5pm on Thursday May 1^st 2025 with HGWF Scholarship Application 2025 as the Subject line.

Please note that this deadline is also relevant for your application for the MSc Responsible Business & Sustainability: you need to have submitted your application for the programme through the regular Trinity postgraduate application portal by May 1^st 2025.

It is also important to note that we cannot offer any form of pre-check of the application or supporting documentation before the submission deadline. After the deadline, candidates may be contacted as part of the selection process to provide additional clarifications regarding their applications.

Any further questions relating to this process should be directed to business.masters@tcd.ie