Bursaries

Postgraduate bursaries

The bursary award is £150 per applicant for those registered at UK institutions, and £200 per applicant for those registered at non-UK institutions. Your conference fee will also be waived.

The bursaries can be used towards travel and accommodation.

Am I eligible?

• Bursaries are available to current postgraduate members of BISA, who do not have support from their institution, a research grant, or other funding awards, to attend the conference
• Applicants should be BISA postgraduate members at the time of application, and continuously through to the end of the conference for which the bursary is awarded
• PhD applicants and postdocs are not eligible for this conference bursary. So, if you haven’t started your PhD, have already completed, or will have completed your PhD prior to the conference, you won’t be eligible. There are details of ECR bursaries below.
• Masters’ students are not eligible for this award
• Bursary applicants must have paper(s) accepted for presentation at the conference. It is a condition of the award that papers are submitted by the paper submission deadline.

ECR bursaries

The bursary award is £200 per applicant. Your conference fee will also be waived.

The bursaries can be used towards travel and accommodation.

Am I eligible?

• ECR for this purpose is defined as up to five years from receiving your PhD award
• You must have a paper accepted onto the conference programme
• You must be a member of BISA at the time of application and continuously through to the end of the conference for which the bursary is awarded
• You must not have any other support from a department/institution, research grants, or any other funding awards etc to attend the conference.

How do the bursaries work?

You’ll need to fill in an online bursary application form which must be accompanied by a statement from a supervisor. This must be signed, on university headed paper and uploaded to the website with your application.

You’ll need to collate the following information before making your online application:

1. Name and institution (if you have one)/email contact
2. Confirmation of current BISA membership
3. A 200-word account of your research, including how the paper you will present at the BISA conference fits into your overall research trajectory (e.g. is it part of your thesis, a standalone paper you are working on for publication, part of an ongoing book project, etc)
4. Are you in receipt of any grants/funding? If so, describe them
5. Title of paper you will present at the BISA conference
6. 50-word paper abstract/summary
7. Any other role(s) that will you play in the conference
8. A letter of support from your institution on university headed paper (PhD applicants only, not required for ECR applicants)

Your letter of support should:

• introduce you, including information on the nature of the relationship with the letter writer i.e. supervisor, head of department, head of research etc
• confirm your attitude to studying and research
• detail your academic record and commitment
• make the case for funding i.e. confirm there is no alternative and/or institutional funding available for you
• confirm you’re still registered as a PhD student
• make the case for the value of your participation in the conference.

There is a huge demand for bursaries which outweighs the support we are able to provide. The process is therefore extremely competitive.

How to claim your bursary expenses

No money will change hands in advance of the conference. You will still need to register for your conference place in time for the 12 March 2026 deadline, however you will be able to choose a free bursary ticket type. You will need to submit a claim for your expenses.

Please complete an expenses claim form and return it to the BISA office by email with your receipts (clearly scanned images or jpeg are fine). Please ensure your bank details are clearly legible otherwise payments may get misdirected by our bank.

Claim forms must be supported by proper receipts that show VAT where applicable (incl VAT registration number), details of items paid for, and the amount paid. Online booking receipts should be in the applicant’s name.

All claims are to be made promptly after the conference and within three months of the event. Failure to do so may result in funding not being paid out.

You should not utilise the same receipts for more than one funding claim. This is fraudulent and may result in the award being withdrawn.

We will not accept claims for mileage and/or parking, unless there are specific reasons for this, which have been agreed in advance of the conference, and the claims being made.

The awards are for travel and accommodation only. Additional items will not be funded. Where travelling using an Oyster card or contactless payment, please provide a download statement with the relevant trips and costs highlighted. Generic lump sum top-ups cannot be claimed.

The bursary expenses claims will be paid by bank transfer. Where an international bank transfer charge is applicable, this will be taken from the bursary amount.

Other conditions

• No applicant will be supported for more than two conference awards
• No single institution will be eligible for more than five awards in any one year
• These awards relate only to attendance at the main BISA 2027 conference, 30 June to 2 July 2027
• Applicants who are awarded a bursary but subsequently fail to register for, and attend, the conference will not be eligible to receive a bursary the following year
• Bursaries cannot be transferred to a subsequent BISA conference.

Applications will open on 18 January 2026 and close on 18 February 2026. After the deadline we will assess all applications and you will be notified of the outcome in time to meet the 12 March participant registration deadline.

Please send any bursary enquiries to the Conference Chair, Simon Rushton, via conferences@bisa.ac.uk. Information on childcare can be found on our childcare page.

University of Manchester bursaries

With the 2027 conference taking place in Manchester, the University of Manchester are offering bursaries for postgraduate research students and low-waged colleagues associated with the University. Each bursary will give a discount of up to £150 on the total cost of a conference ticket. More details of how and when to apply will be made available shortly.

Top image provided courtesy of Marketing Manchester