Undergraduate Vacation Bursary – Information for Project Supervisors 2023
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Information for Project Supervisors 2023
Following the success of last year’s reformated bursary structure, this year, again to improve inclusivity of student access to the scheme, supervisors will submit their projects first for selection by the BSPP Education Committee (deadline 5th March). We will then advertise the selected projects to students, who will be able to apply directly for a project (13th March with deadline of 16th April). Supervisors will then be informed of all suitable applications made to their project, with final decisions to be agreed by supervisors/students in first week in May.
Project proposals are invited from supervisors for funding through the bursary scheme:
- Supervisors should be current BSPP members;
- Hold an academic position in a research institute or university, but do not have to be based in the United Kingdom.
- Each supervisor may submit no more than two project proposals per year.
- Successful recipients of the award can only apply every two years. Priority will be given to supervisors who did not apply or were not successful in the previous round.
- Supervisors will support students throughout the period of the bursary and provide relevant advice and training.
- The project must be relevant to plant pathology.
Project proposals should include:
- a short description of the proposed research and how it is relevant to plant pathology;
- how the student will be supervised;
- how the students will benefit from the studentship;
- the institution hosting the project;
- whether the project is lab/field based or remote/virtual;
- proposals should recommend papers and other texts to help bursary applicants identify a suitable research topic.
- the duration of the project can be 6, 8 or 10 weeks (Students will be able to apply for the project of interest after this call is closed).
The project will receive a £500 consumables/project related budget. However, for remote projects which are to be done by a student working in a developing country, additional funds can be provided to up to a total of £1000. This could be, for example, used to purchase computer equipment or internet access, although a case for these additional funds would need to be made by the supervisor as part of the application. Students based in the United Kingdom will receive a sum of £380 per week to cover living expenses. The amount is set with reference to the United Kingdom living wage; amounts granted for any students living outside the United Kingdom will be pegged to the local equivalent.
The student will be required to submit a short report (500 words maximum) to BSPP via the supervisor. This will be published in the BSPP Newsletter. There is also a requirement for students to provide a short video blog describing their project and their experience: examples from last year are available at https://www.bspp.org.uk/funds/bspp-undergraduate-lockdown-bursary-fund/bspp-lockdown-project-students-share-their-experiences/. The students will also be asked to give a short presentation on their project at an online meeting run by the BSPP in Autumn 2023.
The deadline for project applications was 23:59 on the 5th March 2023.
