New MBA Scholarships for scientists

EIBF, the charity that promotes the importance and value of business education for engineers announced today that it will also promote business education for scientists, providing eight MBA scholarships of £50,000 to UK scientists each year.   

The Sainsbury Management Fellows MBA scholarship programme was founded in 1987 by Lord Sainsbury of Turville, who hoped that learning business skills would help engineers to set up their own high-tech businesses or to get to the top of large UK companies.  

The programme has been very successful, with more than 400 engineers graduating from top international business schools. Known as Sainsbury Management Fellows, these business school graduates have created over 300 new companies worth almost £5 billion along with more than 21,000 jobs in the UK.

In a bid to further aid the economic prosperity of the UK and to help build on its leading reputation in scientific research, the Sainsbury MBA scholarship programme is being expanded to scientists. The new programme will be called the Sainsbury Science Management Fellows Scholarship.

This year, five scholarships will be available to talented scientists who can demonstrate leadership qualities and their commitment to the UK economy (eight scholarships will be available in 2025/26 and thereafter).

The scholarships will be for full-time MBA study at the following business schools which are linked to the top science research universities in the UK:

• Saïd Business School, University of Oxford
• Cambridge Judge Business School
• Imperial College Business School
• Warwick Business School
• Alliance Manchester Business School
• Cranfield School of Management

Applicants must have a first degree in a science discipline, be able to demonstrate a clear commitment to the economic development of the UK and be UK nationals currently living in the country.

EIBF will be partnering with the National Physical Laboratory to administer the scholarship award process.

Successful applicants will become part of the SMF alumni network, comprised of senior UK and world business leaders. Sainsbury Management Fellows attend networking activities and actively engage and collaborate with one another in business ventures.

Lord Sainsbury of Turville, settlor of EIBF, commented on the new programme for scientists: “The success of the Sainsbury Engineering Management Fellows has led me to believe that we should widen the impact of the scholarship scheme by helping those who have scientific degrees to also acquire business skills. An MBA will provide scientists with credible business skills, allowing them to transform their innovations into commercial products.”

David Falzani MBE, Chair of EIBF, said:

“We are grateful to Lord Sainsbury for providing the funding for the Sainsbury Science Management Fellowship Programme. We look forward to working with the National Physical Laboratory to provide this excellent opportunity to UK scientists. Along with all the Sainsbury Engineering Management Fellows, we look forward to welcoming the scientists who will add inestimable value and diversity to our networking community.”