Postgraduate Conference Funds

Guidelines

Grants of up to £500 are available to assist current postgraduate BSG members (i.e. registered for MPhil/PhD and 1-year taught masters degrees) in presenting a paper or poster at a conference, and are intended to cover part of the total cost of registration, accommodation and travel. Students without research council funding or equivalent are particularly encouraged to apply. Applications will be considered primarily for attendance at major overseas conferences, especially those where there are specialist sessions relating directly to the research programme, and/or where the postgraduate student is making a presentation. In certain instances, the BSG may approve in advance support towards the costs of attending major General Geomorphological conferences (e.g. IAG conferences), up to a stated sum per head. In these cases, priority (or special treatment) may be given to those presenting papers. Otherwise support will be given on a first-come basis prior to a set deadline, normally advertised in Geophemera. The BSG would not normally support postgraduate attendance at UK (e.g. BSG) conferences, except as stated above, since postgraduate attendance at such events is usually subsidised via cheap registration and accommodation. Separate arrangements are available for the BSG Postgraduate Symposium. Applications will be judged primarily on the basis of the importance of attendance for the individual postgraduate student, costings, and the supporting references/supervisor statement. Procedures for application are set out below.

Forms

• Microsoft Word Format
• Adobe Acrobat Format

Application and Monitoring Procedures for BSG Postgraduate Conference Funds

1. Deadlines are: 30 September, 31 March.
2. Applicants should submit the following in a single package to arrive prior to the deadline:
   1. 5 copies of the application form and supporting case (which should be no more than 1 side of A4 in 12 point font and should include full justification for attendance). Abstracts for any oral papers/posters to be presented at the conference should be included as additional pages where appropriate;
   2. A statement detailing their level and source of funding, which should be signed by their Head of Department (or equivalent);
   3. 2 referees statements (one of which should normally be from the research supervisor) in support of the application, supplied in sealed envelopes, signed across the seal by the referee. Applicants are advised to seek references well in advance of the application deadline.
3. Applications should be sent to: BSG Administrative Assistant, RGS-IBG, 1 Kensington Gore, London SW7 2AR.
4. On the first working day after the deadline, a copy of all complete applications will be forwarded to each of the members of the Research Sub-Committee and to the Honorary Secretary.
5. The Chair of the Research Sub-Committee will send notification to each applicant of the verdict on their application no more than 5 weeks after the deadline. The Chair will also notify the Honorary Secretary and Honorary Treasurer of the amounts awarded and the recipients.
6. Successful applicants should then write to the Honorary Treasurer requesting the allocated funds.
7. On completion of expenditure of the award, and normally within six months of its receipt, the applicant should supply a short report on the conference/session attended, including details of any intended public domain outcomes (e.g. submission of paper to journal), together with an account of expenditure of the funds awarded. This should be supported by receipts (copies acceptable in the case of funding shared with another agency). This account should be sent in hard copy to the address in para. 3 above and in electronic form to bsg@rgs.org.
8. Reports will be forwarded with a copy of the initial application to members of Research Sub-Committee and to the Honorary Secretary. If the reports are approved, then the Honorary Secretary will forward to the Geophemera editor and BSG webmaster for publication. If the reports are deemed unsatisfactory, the Chair of Research Sub-Committee will write to the author with comments.
9. The Report of the Chair of Research Sub-Committee to the AGM will include an overview of BSG-sponsored conference attendance.