The Graduate Awards and Research Studentships Committee (GARS) is the College committee responsible for financial assistance to graduates and postgraduates; with few exceptions, the funds below are administered by GARS.

 

 1. Welfare funds

 2. Research and travel funds

 3. Book grants

 4. Funds available for Undergraduates, Postgraduates and Graduates

 5. Postgraduate grants

 

Small grants for students experiencing temporary hardship or unusual costs. If you face a sudden financial shortfall due to circumstances beyond your control (devaluation of foreign currency; death, illness, or job loss of financial guarantor; unusual and unforseeable emergency expenses), we can make small grants to assist with immediate problems, until you find a long-term solution. Please note that this is an emergency fund.

All students are required to have made appropriate financial provision for their courses before being admitted.

Eligibility: All graduates & postgraduates (Home, EU and Overseas, including graduates beyond terms).

Timing: Any time. You should get a decision within two weeks, less if necessary (but please do not wait until you are down to your last £2 before applying).

Procedure: Get a "Pink Form" from the Tutorial Office and go to see your Tutor, who will discuss your problem with you and endorse the application. Your case is sent anonymously around to the GARS Committee, who make a decision based upon your circumstances and Tutor's recommendation. Awards made early in the year are cautious, as we are not sure how many needy students are going to apply; but repeat applications are allowed.

Postgraduates who have previously received Newton or Newnham Bursaries should ask their Tutor about eligibility for similar bursaries. Room Bursaries are available to help postgraduates on full LEA support.

The Board of Graduate Studies also makes awards from its Hardship Fund.

Some Home students are eligible to apply to the University Access to Learning Fund. Details can be found here.
 

 

Support for attendance at conferences, travel to gather data or to study source material essential for research, help with extra specialist tuition, binding theses, etc. Unfortunately, computer and software purchase cannot be supported at present.

Eligibility: All graduates and postgraduates within terms (Postgrads see also "Postgrad Grants" and "Travelling Scholarships", below). There is no means test. You may apply more than once in any year, providing your supervisor will support your applications.

Timing: Decisions on travel and research funding are made case by case. You need to provide clear evidence of costs. You may apply in advance or retrospectively.

Procedure: Fill in the "Green Form" from the Tutorial Office and have your supervisor add his or her written support then return the form to the Tutorial Office. You may include all categories of expense, from visa fees though ground travel, airfares, registration fees, and costs of accommodation and board. You are also expected to make applications to other sources (if available); we currently have a rule that GARS will grant a certain percentage of your shortfall after other grants are taken into account. This is usually in the region of 60%, but it may vary, depending on how many of you apply. There is also an upper limit on grants we can give to any student per financial year (1st July to 30th June) of £750.

Awards are paid retrospectively and receipts are required.
 

Once you have finished your PhD, you are eligible for assistance with thesis binding costs. Please take your receipts to the Tutorial Office who will be able to make an application on your behalf to the Board of Graduate Studies. The Board of Graduate Studies usually offers a contribution (1/3 of the cost), GARS will offer 1/3 of the cost, leaving the remaining 1/3 for you to find.

 

This Fund has been set up specifically “to support students involved in Development Studies or related subject areas, or working in developing countries.” This Fund is also open to undergraduates and is administered by the Financial Tutor in conjunction with the Graduate Tutor. To apply to this Fund contact your Tutor to discuss your project.

 

Purchase of essential books for research or coursework. We do not have limitless funds and if you can reasonably have been expected to refer to the book in a library, you should not make a claim for it; your Supervisor will be asked to verify that purchase of your books is essential.

Book grants are awarded on a percentage basis according to total expenditure of all students, up to a certain maximum each. This ceiling (£200 or less), and the percentage of your costs that can be covered (likely to be around 50%), is worked out by formula once all applications have been received.

Eligibility: All graduates and postgraduates within terms. There is no means test.

Timing: The "Yellow Form" is available from the Tutorial Office in the Lent Term; the closing date is 21 February. Decisions will be made by the end of term.

Procedure: Gather up the receipts for books you have bought since the beginning of the academic year or the last round of Book Grants; make a list of these books (titles & prices); add up your total expenditure; attach your receipts firmly to this list and attach list and receipts to the yellow application form. You need your supervisor's or DoS's signature on the form.

Unfortunately we cannot help with the purchase of computer software. We may consider a grant towards the costs of photocopying rare or out of print or difficult-to-find books, but only if student and supervisor can make a strong case for needing these as a matter of absolute necessity.

 

Graduates and postgraduates should also consult the undergraduate financial pages, as some of the funds described there are also available to them. These include:

 

 * Music awards

 * Jackson Fund for postgraduate study in Law

 * Travelling scholarships (normally immediately after graduation; also former Newnham undergraduates)

 * Smart Fund (equipment: undergraduate and postgraduate only)

 

Stoney & Balfour Travelling Scholarships. Grants towards the cost of electives for clinical medical and veterinary students.

Eligibility: Second year Clinical Medics and Vets only. Also open to former Newnham medical students doing clinical studies elsewhere.

Timing:

Stoney:             closing date early November

Balfour:            closing date early December

Procedure: Pick up a form from the Tutorial Office. Endorsement of your DoS is required

Boyd-Martin Awards. These awards will pay for travel and/or accommodation and/or approved or reasonable expenses to enable Newnham students to participate in medically related projects of their own choosing. See here for details.

Eligibility: 5th year Medical Students (Clinical)

Procedure: See here for details