Conference bursaries

Find out more about our bursary scheme designed to help offset the costs of attending the SLSA conference.

Eligibility criteria

The scheme is open to:

• postgraduate students who are registered for a postgraduate degree at a higher education institution and who do not hold a full-time academic appointment or other full-time positions
• precariously employed staff
• representatives from a third-sector organisation
• scholars or academics facing serious financial hardship.

To be eligible, applicants must have an abstract for a paper or poster accepted or have been invited to participate in a roundtable discussion, special panel, live performance, or other similar session at the conference.

Bursary holders are required to be fully paid-up members (or registered as free student members) of the SLSA. Ideally, an applicant should be a member at the point of application.  If not, they will be required to join the SLSA as a member on receipt of a bursary.

Priority will be given to applicants who are SLSA members at the point of application, have no other sources of funding, and have not received an SLSA bursary for the annual conferences in the last three years. Consideration will be given to those who can demonstrate the conference will have additional benefits, such as a planned output resulting from the presentation or knowledge transfer back to a non-HEI organisation.

Bursary details

The bursary will cover the costs of the registration fees for the conference. Successful applicants will need to cover their own accommodation and transport costs.  

Bursaries normally do not cover tickets to the conference dinner and informal reception. If it is possible to provide tickets to either of the evening events, then this will be communicated alongside bursary decisions.

Key dates

• Monday 22 September 2025 -  applications for bursaries open
• Thursday 18 December 2025 - deadline for bursary applications
• Thursday 22 January 2026 - applicants informed on the outcome of bursary applications
• Thursday 19 February 2026 - deadline for successful applicants to confirm acceptance of bursaries.

Apply for a bursary

Fill out our bursary application form to apply for a bursary.