(L-R) Sussex Research Hive Scholar Craig Haslop; Jane Harvell, head of the Library's Academic Services; Clive Parry from SAGE; Sussex Research Hive Scholars Jill Kirby and Chris Kempshall.

Publishing company SAGE is funding a new bursary for University of Sussex students. 

The academic and professional publisher’s gift to the University’s Library will support a bursary of £1,000 a year for three new Sussex students. 

SAGE has since 2010 funded the Sussex Research Hive; a dedicated space in the Library where researchers and academics can meet and discuss their work. This new bursary scheme, starting this autumn, is an extension of that partnership. 

Jane Harvell, Head of the Library's Academic Services and Special Collections, said: “We are delighted that SAGE, one of the world's most respected publishers, is extending its gift to Sussex to include working with and supporting undergraduate students. 

“Our association has been incredibly beneficial and I am very excited to be able to announce this scheme which we believe offers many mutual benefits and opportunities and bring us closer to our student community here at Sussex.” 

The initiative is aimed at first-year undergraduates from across the subject areas and will be advertised during induction in September. 

Bursary recipients will be asked to write blog posts throughout their time at Sussex, starting with their first impressions of university life. Staff from the Library and SAGE hope to be able to track the progress of the students and, by monitoring changes in how they seek information, enhance the value of the services and collections that they offer. 

Jane continued: “The bursaries will provide SAGE, the Library and the sector with valuable data by means of a reflective blog as well as capturing the evidence of the development of an undergraduate during their three years starting from their induction into University academic life. 

“We also hope it will demonstrate the empirical value of what both the Library and an academic publisher like SAGE offer to undergraduates.” 

Clive Parry, Global Marketing Director at SAGE, added: “We are delighted to be working with the University of Sussex’s Library to offer this undergraduate bursary scheme. 

“It is crucial that publishers and librarians remain close to the issues and challenges faced by students to ensure that we continue to support them with the resources they need in the format that best suits them. 

“This initiative will be invaluable in helping us better understand the development of student research skills, changing student behaviour, and understand ways in which we can better support librarian and student needs.”

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