This scheme aims to help finance postgraduate and postdoctoral research in experimental psychology (as defined by the content of The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology).
Awards will pay for travel to and accommodation at another institution outside an individual’s academic base. The purpose of the visit is to develop the applicant’s research skills, and may involve learning at first hand about experimental procedures employed in the host laboratory, or designing and running studies that cannot already be carried out in the applicant’s home department. Awards will not be granted for work which forms an integral part of an existing PhD research project, nor for work which would normally be funded by other bodies (e.g. the applicant’s award-granting body or home institution).
To apply for an EPS Study Visit, you must be an EPS postgraduate member or a postdoctoral worker who received their PhD within the last five years. Applicants may be of any nationality. It is a further condition of the award that either the researcher’s home institution or the institution to be visited, or both, must be in the UK. Preference will be given to applicants supervised by an EPS member, or whose visit involves a project with an EPS member.
Applicants who are funded by a Research Council, departmental or other studentship, or a research grant, are expected to seek funding towards the visit from these sources before applying to EPS, or to explain why they are not able to do so.
Grants will be for a maximum of £3,500 to any individual. The Society will, on receipt of an invoice at the end of the period of the bursary, reimburse the applicants home institution for the award. In addition, the Society will, on receipt of appropriate invoices, reimburse the institution visited by the student for actual costs incurred as a consequence of the visit up to a maximum of £100.
Only one application should be submitted in any given 12-month period (i.e. an unsuccessful application for a Study Visit for the September deadline means the applicant should not submit another Study Visit application until the next September deadline at the earliest). Furthermore, only one application can be submitted by an applicant, to any scheme, in a single round (i.e. an applicant cannot apply for both a Study Visit and a Research Workshop grant in the same round).
The completed documents should be sent to the Honorary Secretary by email* (preferred) at expsychsoc@kent.ac.uk, or by post.
* If emailing, applicants must prepare and submit a single PDF of the aggregated, signed application material. It is the applicant’s responsibility to ensure that all material is compiled and formatted appropriately. In either case material must be received in the office by the stated deadline. Please do not send a hard copy through the post if you have already emailed your submission.
Hard copies can be sent to the Hon. Secretary:
Prof Heather Ferguson
EPS Hon Secretary
School of Psychology
Keynes College, University of Kent
Canterbury
CT2 7NP
These should be sent prior to one of four submission dates 1st March, 1st June, 1st September and 1st December. The proposals will be circulated to Committee members for consideration. Retrospective applications will not be considered and study visits cannot start until applicants have been notified of the decision (which can be up to 3 months after the submission dates).
Applications should consist of the following:
- A completed application form.
- A curriculum vitae.
- Short references from two EPS members (one of whom should normally be the applicant’s supervisor, ex-supervisor or grant-holder).
- A letter from the institution to be visited, indicating its willingness to have the applicant and confirming the availability of the relevant research facilities. If this letter is from the Head of the Institution or other person who is unlikely to have day to day contact with the applicant, the letter should indicate who will be supervising the work on a daily basis.
Grants will be allocated by the EPS Committee. Preference will be given to first time applicants and those who are supervised by EPS members. Greater priority will also be given to applications demonstrating strong links with the EPS membership and remit.
Guidance
- Applications from PhD students in their first, or even second year of FTE study are often declined. The EPS takes the view that study visits are most useful and beneficial when a student has already established relevant training and experience in their research career. When a study visit can demonstrably complement a postgraduate training experience already acquired, it is more likely to be successful.
- Applications that do not demonstrate how the study visit will be distinct and separate from a PhD programme are much less likely to be successful. We encourage applicants to make the relationship between their research programme and the study visit clear.
- Applications that do not demonstrate why particular research training or facilities cannot be accessed at their home institution are less likely to be successful. We encourage applicants to make the case for the novelty of the visit they propose, especially for visits to international institutions.
- Applicants are welcome to document any relevant plans for open science practices involved in the work.
- The start date of the study visit should be listed as two months after the submission date (e.g. 1st May, 1st August, 1st November or 1st February) at the earliest.
For successful applicants
Awards are paid in arrears. Holders of Study Visit awards will be required to submit a Study Visit Report Form (PDF) / Study Visit Report Form (Word), a short report (maximum 1000 words) and invoice to the Hon. Secretary within 8 weeks of the end of their visit. This should:
- include an abstract of the research or other activities accomplished
- outline how the visit benefited their research
- mention any publications planned on the basis of it
- include an invoice which should detail the award holders name (please note that invoices should not be sent to the EPS separate to the final report), together with receipts. Where there is a VAT element on any of your receipts, please split this on your invoice.
The Society expects its assistance will be acknowledged in any publications directly arising from the work supported. Should there be any change in details regarding start date, duration or cancellation then the Honorary Secretary must be informed as soon as possible.
Funding and donations
Members of the Society may donate money to the Study Visit Fund in the assurance that it will not be used for other society purposes. The EPS Committee wishes to encourage members to consider this possibility seriously.