Student Small Grants

The Centre of Islamic Studies invites applications from students registered at the University of Cambridge for small grants (up to £500) for research-related activities (including conference travel) connected to the Centre’s areas of interest. Applications will be considered twice a year, with deadlines of the fourth Friday of Lent Term and the fourth Friday of Easter Term.

To apply, please send an application form (see below) and supporting statement from your supervisor to cis@cis.cam.ac.uk by the relevant deadline. Applicants must submit a risk assessment for any travel abroad with their application. Successful applicants must provide all receipts and a 300-word publishable report within one month of completion.

Preference will be given to graduate students already sponsored by the Centre of Islamic Studies or registered in the Department of Middle Eastern Studies.

Eligibility: Registered PhD students who have passed their first-year PhD examination

• Applications must be made in advance of fieldwork
• Applicants need to have completed the ‘Leave to Work away’ process if the activities will require them to be away from Cambridge for more than two weeks
• An authorized risk assessment must have been provided
• The application must provide details of the proposed fieldwork and a breakdown of the exact costs involved.  
• Students may claim for UK or international fieldwork cost, language learning, visits to other institutions. The funding covers expenses, that are in addition to normal living costs (e.g., tuition fees payable at another institution; travel costs; research related costs; exceptional living costs).  
• Payments are made as a bank account transfer to a UK bank account only.   
• If for any reason the fieldwork is abandoned or is unsuccessful and the student returns to Cambridge early, they must inform the Faculty to allow it to recover the fieldwork allowance, minus any reasonable expenditure already incurred. The Faculty will also seek to recover funds if a student withdraws from study during the period of fieldwork claim, or is in debt to their College.  

 Exclusions  

• Self-Funded students cannot apply for basic ‘maintenance’ costs as they are expected to meet those costs normally at Cambridge.  
• Students registered at an approved Non-University Institution (NUI) cannot apply for assistance from this fieldwork fund.   
• Students participating in an approved exchange agreement where there is a period spent at another institution and fees are waived at Cambridge (e.g. A*, NIH) cannot apply for assistance from this fieldwork fund.   
• Students with sponsorship that includes adequate resources for fieldwork expenses are not eligible to apply for these funds.