The Smuts Memorial Fund supports scholars at all stages of their career in a wide variety of disciplines working in relation to the Commonwealth, past and present.
The fund was established after the death of Jan Christian Smuts, Prime Minister of South Africa and Chancellor of the University of Cambridge, with the aim of advancing Commonwealth Studies at the University.
The fund seeks to encourage, support and celebrate Commonwealth Studies in a variety of ways:
- Offering scholarships for for international students undertaking Graduate studies specifically related to a Commonwealth county or countries
- Funding and hosting 'After the Postcolonial: The Smuts Lecture Series'
- Offering a Visiting Research Fellowship, in association with Clare Hall
- The position of Professor of Commonwealth History
- Supporting the Centres of South Asian Studies and Centre of African Studies by contributing to the funding of Research Associates, and the Centre of South Asian Studies Librarian
- Offering grants to Cambridge Libraries for purchases in the field of Commonwealth Studies
A range of funding opportunities are available to both staff and students, for further information on how some of our award recipients and research fellows have utilised Smuts funding for research, fieldwork and events please see here.
A number of Fellowships across the University are supported by the Fund, including the Smuts Visiting Research Fellowship.
The Fund is managed by a Board of Managers, meeting termly. The International Student Office supports the Board of Managers in administering the fund.
The Smuts Memorial Fund also supports the Professor of Commonwealth History. The Chair has been held by a number of distinguished academics. The current Smuts Professor, Saul Dubow, took up his position in January 2017.
Professor Dubow, along with Professor Richard Drayton, has edited the volume "Commonwealth History in the Twenty-First Century" which was recently published by Palgrave Macmillan. This edited collection draws together new historical writing on the Commonwealth and explores the enduring historical ties of the Commonwealth as an institution. Featuring the work of younger scholars, as well as established academics, this work highlights themes such as law and sovereignty, republicanism and the monarchy, French engagement with the Commonwealth, the anti-apartheid struggle, race and immigration, memory and commemoration and banking.