Royal College of Art announces £6.1 million Märit Rausing Scholarships in Ceramics & Glass

The Royal College of Art (RCA) is delighted to announce a significant new scholarship endowment that will award six annual scholarships of £35,000 each year over the next two decades - the Märit Rausing Scholarships in Ceramics & Glass - thanks to the remarkable generosity of Julia and Hans Rausing.

The scholarships will be open for the next academic year and will be for suitably qualified UK students who apply to study MA Ceramics & Glass at the RCA - a one year, 45 week course. They will cover full fees, as well as contribute towards living expenses and materials, opening up higher level study in this area to people from a wide range of financial backgrounds.

The scholarships have been made possible by a generous donation of £6.1m from Julia and Hans Rausing, in honour of Hans’ mother Märit - motivated by a desire to support and enhance the great tradition of British ceramics training at the Royal College of Art. The donation, the largest scholarship gift made to the RCA, forms part of the GenerationRCA campaign, which has now raised over £80 million to support people, places and projects at the RCA.

The Ceramics & Glass MA at the RCA provides a creative interface where personal concerns and global perspectives intersect – questioning, examining and responding to social, cultural and material challenges. The areas of research of both staff and students are diverse, arise from the broad scope of the two disciplines, and inform what is taught on the programme. Advances in technology are explored, while traditional methodologies are challenged to create new and unique approaches. The programme develops an approach which focuses on the transformative power of material thinking, research, and making, enabling new generations of artists and designers to enrich our world in imaginative and meaningful ways.

Alumni of the course include Dame Magdalene Odundo DBE, world-famous ceramic artist and Chancellor of the University of Creative Arts; Phoebe Cummings, winner of the British Ceramics Biennial Award and the inaugural Woman’s Hour Craft Prize; Ashraf Hanna, artist and Best In Show winner at the British Glass Biennale; Hitomi Hosono, former Artist in Residence at Wedgewood; and Irina Razumovskaya, winner of the NASPA Ceramic Talent Award, the Biennal de ceramics d’Esplugues Angelina Alos, the International Triennial of Silicate Ar, and the Carter Preston Award, as well as being awarded the D’A Special Award, Silver Medal at the 59th Faenza Prize Ceramic Competition.