Grants

Oxford University Society

(See News page for grants awarded in earlier years)

East Kent Branch

The East Kent Branch of the Oxford University Society awards several bursaries every year, in amounts suitable to the nature of the project, to students from East Kent to assist in their extramural projects. The awards will be based on the relevance of the project to the degree courses and the likelihood that the amount will be sufficient, when added to other resources in hand, to achieve the stated goals. These grants will not be limited to activities that entail travel abroad. Grants awarded can be anywhere up to £1,000 per applicant, dependent on requirements for the project proposed.

Qualifications:

Students should be undergraduate students at Oxford University.
Students should be from East Kent, defined as having their main residential address (or school address when completing their secondary education) in East Kent, which includes the district council areas of Ashford, Canterbury, Dover, Shepway and Thanet, plus the town of Faversham.
The project will normally, but not exclusively, be undertaken during one of the vacation periods of the year.

Applications:

Applications should be made on the form below.
Applicants should describe their project or activity clearly and concisely, with particular attention to relevance to the course of academic study. A budget must be included, showing details of other potential grants and personal contribution.
Applicants must include a detailed, signed, letter (not an email) of support from their academic tutor, not just a certification of approval.
Applications may either be sent by Royal Mail to the East Kent Bursary Secretary, Mrs D.Worth, West Hill House, The Street, Finglesham, Kent CT14 0NG, or by e-mail to dianeworth1@aol.com. Applications for 2025 grants will open on 1st May and close on 28th June. Priority will be given to early applications. We will endeavour to communicate our decisions as soon as possible to enable students to plan their projects accordingly. If you need to know earlier whether your application has been successful – or any other queries – please get in touch with Mrs Diane Worth Dianeworth1@aol.com

The awards will be made by a panel of four members of the East Kent Branch and decisions will be final. The successful applicants may be asked to speak at the AGM of the OUSEK in the autumn.

Application form: please copy and print, or paste into your word processing application.

OXFORD UNIVERSITY SOCIETY EAST KENT BRANCH

APPLICATION FOR GRANT 2025

Name…………………………………………………………..College………………………Date of matriculation……

Home Address……………………………………………………………………………………. ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Course of Study…………………………………………..

School (in due course you will be asked to sign a form giving permission for us to approach the school) or residence in East Kent……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Purpose of Grant …………………………………………………………………………………….. ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Relevance of Activity to Course of Study ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………. ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………. ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………. ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………. …………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Budget, which must give details of all sources from which the applicant hopes to gain assistance, and the size of any personal contribution ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

(Please use another page for further elaboration if required)

Signature of Applicant……………………………………Date…………..email………………………………………………….

Statement of Support by Tutor (a separate and detailed letter is required.)

Name of Tutor…………………………………..Position………………………………………………………………………………

Address of Tutor………………………………………………………………..email………………………………………………….

Please send application to:

Mrs. D. Worth, Bursary Secretary, Oxford University Society, East Kent Branch, West Hill House, The Street, Finglesham. Kent CT14 0NG by Royal Mail, or as an e-mail attachment to dianeworth1@aol.com

These comments from Joseph Double (St Hugh’s, Mathematics) a 2018 grantee, might help to encourage applications!

‘I had the opportunity to work with one of my tutors over the summer to produce pieces for a general audience about complex mathematical topics. Without the help of the OUS East Kent group, I couldn’t have taken up this opportunity – with their grant’s help, I was able to afford to live in Oxford through a large part of the summer, allowing me to work in close contact with my tutor and use his studio for creating the videos and audio pieces I worked on. The OUSEK grant can be put to use far more flexibly than those from bigger schemes (which always have preconditions to meet about how the project will apply to industry, say), so I couldn’t recommend applying more if you have an idea for a project for your time at Oxford which is on the unusual side!’

This is a resume of the 2025 successful candidates.

Leo Bevan from Keble reading English. Leo asked for assistance with lodging and fare to Edinburgh Fringe to workshop the medieval play The Castell of Perseverance’ with, among others, Paul Hendy to bring a verse play to a modern audience.

Dylan French. St Peter’s reading Biology.

Dylan asked for funding to assist with renting a supercomputer for an ongoing paper on an algorhythmic way to simulate predicted future species diversity. Dylan ( together with fellow first year student Ziteng Feng Pembroke) has already won a cash prize awarded by Oxford Map the System, our grant completes the amount needed.

Jude Smith . Univ.. Classical Archaeology and Ancient History..

Jude asked for funding to enable her to join a field work project in Volos Greece working on material excavated from the Sanctuary of Pasikrata , located just outside the city walls of Ancient Demetrias. Jude had already been granted an award from the Faculty of Classics, our grant completed the money she needed.

Tia Westwood St John’s. Archeology and Anthropology..

Tia asked for support with her air fare to South Africa to enable her to join a fieldwork project with Dr Tim Forssman. She will be looking into ancient trade routes across Africa.