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Support for ongoing projects

Explore the resources empowering your UCL research journey. We facilitate and foster interdisciplinary collaboration through financial support for researcher networks and academic societies.

Researcher Networks/Academic Societies Fund

The Doctoral School is committed to elevating the quality of research projects at UCL. We encourage researchers to expand their horizons, transcend disciplinary boundaries, and promote knowledge sharing across fields through researcher-driven networks and academic societies.

The Doctoral School Researcher Networks/Academic Societies Fund primarily aims to:

  • Support and Encourage: Foster the organisation of researcher networks and academic societies.
  • Empower Research: Support research-related activities, such as events, field trips, seminar presentations, and costs for invited speakers.
  • Facilitate Collaboration: Create opportunities for inter-departmental and inter-faculty researcher activities.

Eligibility

This funding is open to:

  • Research Students registered for MRes, MPhil/PhD, EngD, Professional Doctorates.
  • Postdoctoral Researchers, particularly those early in their careers.

General Regulations

Here are some essential guidelines:

  • Normally, one award will be granted per Network/Society each academic year.
  • Applications should reach the Doctoral School at least one month before the activity's start date.
  • We encourage cross-departmental and cross-faculty applications.
  • Multi-institutional applications are welcome, provided there's a reciprocal contribution from other institution(s), acknowledging UCL's role.
  • Applications are significantly strengthened by evidence of matching funding from and applications to other sources.
  • Please note, funding is competitive, and each application is considered on its merits. Availability may vary.
  • Retrospective applications for incurred expenses are typically ineligible.

Awards Available

Deadline:

No fixed deadlines. Awards are granted on a first-come, first-served basis within a £7K annual budget, running from August 1st to July 31st.

Amount:

Each award has a maximum value of £1000, and justifications must be provided. Unused funds cannot be claimed and must be returned.

Outcome:

You will receive written confirmation of the outcome within approximately one month of application receipt.

How to Apply

To apply you need to complete an online application form.

Submit Your Online Application

Current UCL Networks & Societies 

If you would like your society listed on this page, please contact docschoolweb@ucl.ac.uk with all the relevant details. 

Beacon Bursaries

The UCL Engagement team calls for applications to the Beacon Bursary Funding Scheme on an annual basis.  

Beacon Bursaries are designed to support staff and postgraduate research students at UCL to engage with public groups. The Engagement team encourage applications to be innovative in their engagement and to experiment with engagement across diverse groups.  

For further information on Beacon Bursaries, please contact the UCL Engagement Team at publicengagement@ucl.ac.uk  

Information on the next call for applications to the Beacon Bursary Funding Scheme will be made available here and on the Engagement team’s webpage in the 2023/24 academic year.  

Researcher-led Initiative Awards (RLI) 

Delivered by the Organisational Development team, the RLI award scheme supports short-term, well-defined initiatives that offer transferable skills training experiences and resources to peers across departments. Research students in their second year or above and fully-registered/in-progress students may apply.

For information on the RLI award scheme, contact the Organizational Development team at osd@ucl.ac.uk.

Stay tuned for announcements about upcoming opportunities in the 2023/24 academic year on the respective webpages.

UCL ChangeMakers

ChangeMakers has been running since 2014-15 and supports students and staff who want to work together to enhance the learning experience of students at UCL. ChangeMakers has evolved to support 50-80 projects each academic year underpinned by the values of student-staff partnership.

For further information on ChangeMakers and how to apply for funding, please visit the dedicated webpage here or email the ChangeMakers team via changemakers@ucl.ac.uk