Find out about the Student Support Fund and how to apply. About the fund The student support fund has now closed. Please contact enquiries@eastscotbiodtp.ac.uk if you have any urgent requests or queries. EastBio DTP was funded by the UKRI BBSRC to provide additional support for currently funded students under the Widening Participation strand. The aim is to enhance student capacity to benefit from broad opportunities in gaining skills and experiences associated with their personal/professional/career development. In this, the funding is complementing existing support by the BBSRC studentship cover, both financial and statutory (RTSG, DSA, etc). The funding prioritises students with caring responsibilities for young children or dependent adults, students managing long-term ill health, or experiencing adverse life events that affect their capacity to exploit opportunities for professional/career development. The funding is also aimed to facilitate more generally students who need additional financial assistance to access further opportunities, such as attending conferences, training external to their home institution, annual subscription to a learned society, etc. Students are reminded that - through their BBSRC studentship - they have access to: £5,000 RTSG per annum (years 1-3, reduced to £1,500 in year 4) for any expense related to their PhD project; £230 travel bursary per annum; additional placement funding of a max of £1,000 for travel and accommodation, if a placement is more than 50 miles away from their term-time address; the EastBio In Vivo Advanced Skills Travel Bursary of ~£500 via application, and the Disabled Students Allowance. Any financial assistance requested under the Student Support Funding scheme must be in excess of the standard cover of the BBSRC PhD studentship. Using supplementary funds Examples of use for the supplementary funds include (but are not limited to) the following: costs associate with informal/social events initiated by student representatives to boost student wellbeing, solidarity, connectivity and mutual support; eligible costs include catering & travel expenses for participants, or travel expenses for the purpose of a planning a meeting; costs associated with student attending a research or advanced training related to the student’s PhD project where student RTSG is not sufficient support for students to register for a professional body membership support to access industry/business-related training, in excess of EastBio-run events or the PIPS scheme support for auxiliary research-based events, such as student retreats, PhD writing retreats, etc. support to students with caring responsibilities for young children or dependent adults who experience barriers to accessing research/career opportunities, for example: assistance with additional nursery cover, emergency babysitter, fuel costs for driving dependents, etc. publication fees support to finishing students, if they are no longer covered by their host institution or their studentship. Eligibility Funding is open to all current EastBio PhD students, from year 1 to year 4 Maximum awards of £500 per student to ensure optimum cohort cover. The funding awarded may not cover all the costs associated with the student request as we aim to use the available funding for as many students as possible. Applications for larger sums will be considered based on a robust case made by applicants; approval is not guaranteed Eligible expenses that can be reimbursed against the award include, for example, costs for travel, accommodation, childminding, etc. Receipts and invoices, as relevant, to be submitted; we do not accept bank statements as evidence. Applying Awards will be made on the basis of a simple online application form to EastBio . Applications must provide a short description of the assistance requested, details of the event, activity or occasion for the expenses requested, dates and location, as relevant. The costs you request must be itemised, as relevant. Be as detailed as possible to facilitate a speedy review. Applicants should seek their academic supervisor’s support for their application and confirm their support on the form; EastBio may need to approach their supervisor(s) in case of a query on the application under review. Funds will be awarded in the form of reimbursement. Once approved, we will ask students to complete and submit to EastBio an expenses claim form, accompanied with relevant receipts and invoices. Awarded funding must be spent by the end of March 2024. The student support fund has now closed. Please contact enquiries@eastscotbiodtp.ac.uk if you have any urgent requests or queries. Application form Deadline Initial deadline for applications is the middle of February 2024; depending on demand, we will extend the deadline for another month. EastBio reserves the right to change the timeline of applications depending on demand and available funding to ensure maximum cover and best use of funds. Applications must be submitted and approved as early as possible, and prior to incurring the expense in question; retroactive applications will not be considered. Applications are reviewed regularly for a quick turn-around. Personal data handling EastBio will ask for student permission to use personal data, including diversity data, if available, for the purpose of assessing the scheme from a Widening Participation perspective. We will anonymise data and use it solely for the purpose of reporting on DTP Student Support to the funder. You will be asked to explicitly provide your concession for this use of your data, and you can withdraw your concession at any point by emailing EastBio. We will retain the data until the reporting goal is met or the end of your funding, whichever is earliest. Application form After applying Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis. They will be reviewed every 2 weeks and you can expect to hear the outcome on: 4th Jan, 18th Jan, 1st Feb, 15th Feb, 29th Feb, 14th March. The student support fund has now closed. Please contact enquiries@eastscotbiodtp.ac.uk if you have any urgent requests or queries. Please note: retroactive applications will not be accepted. This article was published on 2024-06-17
