Travel and research grants

Travel, Research and Vacation Project Grants

Wolfson College supports students' academic and personal development with two dedicated grants; Travel & Research (for academic activities) and Vacation Project grants (for internships, cultural projects or charitable work).

Travel and research grants

Travel & Research Grants

Travel & Research Grants assist students with the costs of conducting research and/or presenting it at conferences. They are awarded on a competitive basis. Students who have been unsuccessful in a previous application are encouraged to apply again. Roughly 70 awards are available each year.

What do the grants cover?

Travel & Research Grants might support:

  • Travel, accommodation and /or registration fees to present a paper or a poster at an academic conference or to chair a session.
  • Awards of up to £150 to cover the costs of attending a conference that is directly relevant to the student’s research interests, but at which the student is neither making a presentation nor chairing a session.
  • Travel and accommodation necessary for archival work, data collection, fieldwork or periods of necessary research in another University.
  • Costs to learn or improve language skills in order to sit mandatory exams, read essential literature or conduct interviews that are directly related to the student’s research.

Travel & Research Grants will not ordinarily support:

  • Computer hardware, software licenses, purchase of books, reagents
  • General interest language courses or courses in academic English, meals and other incidental costs while traveling for research
  • Expenses that could be covered by other sources, e.g. departmental or Faculty fieldwork budgets, doctoral training funds linked with particular studentship awards, etc.
How much is available?

Undergraduates may apply for up to £400 in each year of full-time study. Students on one or two-year postgraduate courses (e.g. MPhil, LLM, MMus, MEd, MSt) may receive up to £400 in total during their course.

PhD students may receive up to £1200 in total during the first three years of their course. They may choose to apply for multiple awards or to use the entire amount to fund an extended period or research or an international conference presentation.

Applications are not ordinarily accepted from PhD students who are no longer paying the University composition fee (e.g. after the 3rd year of full-time study or the 6th year of part-time study). No awards will be made to students who have already submitted the dissertation for examination.

Who is eligible to apply?

Both undergraduate and postgraduate students may apply for Travel and Research grants. No grants will be awarded to students for activities to be undertaken after graduation or, in the case of doctoral students, after the submission of their thesis.     

Travel & Research grants are intended to support subject-specific research that is essential to the student's course. Projects that are not directly related to a student’s research may instead be funded from the Wolfson College Vacation Project Grants.

What are the deadlines?

Applications and references for Travel & Research Grants should be submitted by:

  • 22 November for projects to be undertaken in December and January
  • 16 January or 13 February for projects to be undertaken in March and April
  • 23 April or 30 May for projects to be undertaken between May and October.

Only students who will still be enrolled as a student at Wolfson College in 2023-2024 are eligible for travel & research funding over the Long Vacation (June-September).

It is the student's responsibility to get the references submitted five days before the Student Finance Committee meets. Any incomplete applications will not be looked at (Meeting dates are 5th December, 30th January, 27th February, 7th May and 18th June).

How to apply

Please complete the Travel & Research Grant online application form and ensure that your Tutor and Director of Studies (for undergrads) or your Tutor and Supervisor (for postgrads) submit the required online reference; all before the deadlines stipulated in the section above.

In the application form you must:

  • Provide a complete, realistic budget and evidence of projected expenses (i.e., quotes for travel and accommodation costs). It is assumed that the cheapest available transport and accommodation will be chosen.  Grants will not cover the cost of food, drink or incidentals.
  • Indicate what other support is available or already secured (from your department/faculty, funding agency or other source) to cover your costs.
  • Indicate how you will cover any costs that available and/or anticipated funding cannot meet.
  • Explain why it is important and necessary to attend this conference or conduct this research and how it fits into your studies.
  • Indicate that you have discussed your plans with your Tutor and Director of Studies (for undergrads) or your Tutor and Supervisor (for postgrads) and they will be sent the reference link once you have completed the form.
  • Once you have received a response from the Committee on your award, please use this link to upload your documents.

 

Vacation project grant

Vacation Project Grants

Vacation Project Grants support activities that are broadly educational, but that do not qualify for a Travel & Research Grant. They are awarded on a competitive basis. Students who have been unsuccessful in a previous application are encouraged to apply again. Up to 10 awards are available each year.

What do the grants cover?

Vacation Project Grants may support:  

  • Volunteer work for charities or non-profit community organisations
  • Unpaid or low-paid internships or laboratory research
  • Unpaid or low-paid projects in the arts (e.g. summer theatre)
  • Any project with a meaningful charitable, cultural or broadly educational purpose (e.g. participating in an archaeological dig, presenting a play at the Edinburgh Fringe)

Vacation Project Grants will not support:

  • Holidays
  • General-interest travel
How much is available?

A student may receive up to a total of £400 for vacation projects during the course of their studies at Wolfson.

Students may apply for the full amount to fund a single project or apply for smaller amounts to fund several projects during their course of study; as funds are limited, however, first-time applicants may be given priority over those who are applying for funding to support a second project.

Vacation Project Grants will cover no more than 50% of the costs of any project; the student is responsible for raising the remainder from other sources.

Who is eligible to apply?

All undergraduate and postgraduate students may apply for Vacation Project grants to fund activities during termly vacations. 

PhD students may also apply for a Vacation Project Grant during any period of annual leave agreed with their supervisor. Students on one-year courses (e.g. MPhil or LLM) are only eligible to apply for Vacation Project Grants to cover activities during the Christmas or Easter vacations.

No grants will be awarded to students for activities to be undertaken after graduation or, in the case of postgraduate students, after the submission of their thesis.

What are the deadlines?

Applications for Vacation Project Grants should be submitted by:

  • 22 November for projects to be undertaken in December and January
  • 16 January or 13 February for projects to be undertaken in March and April
  • 23 April or 30 May for projects to be undertaken between May and October.

Only students who will still be enrolled as a student at Wolfson College in 2023-2024 are eligible for Vacation Project Grants over the Long Vacation (June-September).

It is the student's responsibility to get the reference submitted five days before the Student Finance Committee meets. Any incomplete applications will not be looked at (Meeting dates are 5th December, 30th January, 27th February, 7th May and 18th June).

How to apply

Please complete the Vacation Project Grant online application form and ensure that your Tutor and Director of Studies (for undergrads) or your Tutor and Supervisor (for postgrads) submits the required online reference; all before the deadlines stipulated in the section above.

In the application form you must:

  • Provide a complete, realistic budget and evidence of projected expenses (i.e., quotes for travel and accommodation costs). It is assumed that the cheapest available transport and accommodation will be chosen.  Grants will not cover the cost of food, drink, incidentals or participation fees for internship programmes.
  • Indicate how you will fund the remainder of your costs, as well as any sources of funding already secured or anticipated.
  • Explain the larger contribution that the Vacation Project will make to your personal development, and/or its larger significance.
  • Indicate that you have discussed your plans with your Tutor and Director of Studies (for undergrads) or your Tutor and Supervisor (for postgrads) and they will be sent the reference link once you have completed the form.
  • Once you have received a response from the Committee on your award, please use this link to upload your documents.