Vice-Chancellor's Travel Prize
The Vice-Chancellor’s Travel Prize for Postgraduate Research aims to support students by developing research excellence in academic practice. It also promotes originality and quality of academic research by enhancing student skills, knowledge and experience in public presentations. The standard Travel Prize is £500, however, where a research student is making an oral presentation at an internationally leading conference and demonstrates excellence across all criteria, funding up to a maximum of £750 will be available.
Any research student who has had a paper or poster accepted at a national or international research conference is eligible to apply for this prize. Eligible research students are those enrolled on the following degrees: MPhil, New Route PhD, PhD, Professional Doctorates (EngD, DrPH, EdD).
The Graduate School offers seminars on the preparation required for public presentation, academic writing and research. Please check the Researcher Development Programme for further information.
Recent Winners of the Travel Prize
- Punamdip Kaur Bhullar, School of Health Sciences and Social Care
- Mark Shanahan, School of Social Sciences
- Hayley Barton, School of Sports and Education
- Mohamed Ojapah, School of Engineering and Design
- Faek Menla Ali, School of Social Sciences
- Rekha Kharel Bastola, School of Health Sciences and Social Care
- Serena Volpi, School of Arts
- Manpreet Kaur Dhuffar, School of Social Sciences
Notification
Applicants will be notified of the outcome via email within four weeks of the closing date or as soon as the results are available.
Terms and Conditions of Prize
- Standard maximum funding is £500. Where a student is making an oral presentation at an international leading conference and demonstrates excellence across all criteria, funding up to a maximum of £750 will be available.
- Each Research Student is limited to a maximum award of one Travel Prize per academic year and a maximum of two Travel Prizes for their period of registration at Brunel.
- Students are expected to seek ‘early bird’ registrations where possible, second class travel and a maximum accommodation cost claim per night.
- All successful researchers in receipt of a Travel Prize must submit a photograph and brief report following the attendance of their conference. Selected reports will be displayed on the Graduate School website and may be used for publicity and other promotional materials.
Criteria for Award
A number of factors are taken into consideration when reviewing the Travel Prize applications. These include:
- The originality, rigour and significance/impact of the research to be presented
- The significance and reputation of the conference within the field of research
- The benefits and relevance of the proposed conference to student progression and research output
- The student engagement with personal development and skills training opportunities
- The strength of support from your supervisor
Please note:
- You will be emailed a copy of the submission for your records.
- It is not possible to save drafts so please have all necessary file attachments ready.
- For assistance, please contact the Doctoral Programme Manager by emailing jennifer.woodhead@brunel.ac.uk
Application Process
- Discuss with your supervisor whether you are eligible to apply.
- Complete the application online (will open on Tuesday 7 May). Additional documents should be uploaded as files (proof of acceptance and abstract).
- Your supervisor will be sent an email to complete the online process and attach a letter of support.
- Applicants will be notified of the outcome via email within four weeks of the closing date or as soon as the results are available.
- If you have been notified of a prize, you will need to complete an expense claim form and provide receipts for all your conference expenses, after you have attended the conference. This form should then be returned to the Doctoral Programme Manager, Office 159b, Brunel Graduate School who will make the necessary arrangements for your costs to be reimbursed.
For more information, please read the FAQs. Or email graduateschool@brunel.ac.uk.
