**NEWS** The maximum award limit has been increased to £200 from the 1st October 2007.
Each year the BSA Support Fund provides financial assistance to approximately 50 individual members living in the UK and who are unwaged or in low paid part-time work.
BSA members must be living in the UK to be eligible to apply, and subscribe to the BSA within the UK Concessionary payment category. Postgraduate members who are unwaged or who have no research grants are eligible to apply.
The maximum award to any individual in any one BSA financial year (1 October - 30 September) is £200.00 and applicants may apply for a maximum of three years. Additional applications will be considered, but will only be awarded at the discretion of the Support Fund Committee.
The majority of funds have been provided for:
- Travel and subsistence to attend BSA Conferences (*except the BSA Annual Conference or the Medical Sociology Study Group Conference) and/or BSA study groups.
- Travel and subsistence for subject related conferences.
- Thesis production costs.
- Research and/or fieldwork.
*As the Support Fund allocates a percentage of it´s annual budget to the BSA Annual Conference to enable a number of BSA Concessionary members free registration, on a first-come, first-served basis. The Support Fund is unable to consider applications for this BSA event.
Please note: BSA members allocated free registration conference places will be exempt from applying to the Support Fund for the maximum award of £200 for the duration of the financial period that the confernece place was allocated, ie: members allocated a free concessionary place to the 2008 Annual Conference may only apply for additional Support Fund for the balance, £200 less £93 conference fee = £107 balance. Applicants will be eligible to apply for the maximum fund amount from the 1st October 2008.
The Support Fund does not give grants towards the cost of course fees; for the purchase of books or equipment; membership fees or electronic journal subscriptions. If you need clarification as to whether your request for funding fulfils criteria for support, then please contact the BSA office.
Applications must be accompanied by a letter of support from a supervisor (where the applicant is a postgraduate student) or in other instances from a suitable referee.
Successful applicants are asked to provide a 150 word report on how the award assisted with their research. This report is used for promotional materials, such as Network or the BSA website.
Testimonial
I am a second year PhD student at the University of York researching Anglophone Muslim women's online communities. The aim of my research is to investigate the Internet as a facilitator of women's roles in Islamic revivalism, a complex movement which stresses the importance of the sources of Islam. I examine the discussions of Muslim women who come together online to explore, learn and interpret the Qur'an and other Islamic sources. My research methodology involves a) careful reading and analysis of posts sent to women-only Muslim English-speaking newsgroups (to which I have been granted ethical access) and b) follow-up, in depth interviews with a select group of women drawn from the newsgroups.
The BSA Support fund helped me to finance travelling to the conference 'Gender, Images and Global Contexts' (8-10 March 2007) at the University of Helsinki. It covered my airfare, accommodation costs and the conference fee. At the conference I presented my paper 'The Internet - Islamic Women's Educational and Social Space'. The discussion of my paper and comments from other participants have been very useful in my later work on my thesis. Being at the conference also enabled me to attend presentations which made me look at my own work from a different perspective and bridge some gaps in it.
Anna Piela, PhD Research Student (University of York)
How to Apply
In an effort to streamline the Support Fund application process, the form is now available as a Word document which can be saved to a desktop to complete at your leisure. The document/application can then be forwarded to the BSA office as an e-mail attachment. Guidance notes are available in the document - Support Fund Application Form (Word format).
- Rob Mears: Membership Services Director
- Emmanuelle Tulle: Vice-Treasurer
- Samantha Caslin: Postgraduate Forum Co-convenor
- Kerrin Clapton: Postgraduate Forum Co-convenor
- Lara Killick: Postgraduate Forum Co-convenor
- Ruth Lewis: Postgraduate Forum Co-convenor
Back to top.^
Return to Students Homepage.
