PGR Development Fund 2026-27

The University Innovation & Research Committee recognises the importance of supporting the development of postgraduate research (PGR) students and, for this reason, provides the PGR Development Fund.

All PGR students who have successfully completed their Application for Registration are eligible to apply. PGR students who are members of staff are eligible to apply. PGR students who have submitted their thesis for examination are not eligible to apply.

Funds are awarded on a competitive basis; they are not an entitlement and cannot be made retrospectively. Please ensure that you have read carefully the guidelines below before submitting an application form.

PGR Development Fund eligibility:

• All Postgraduate Research (PGR) students who have successfully completed their Application for Registration
• Contribution to costs up to a maximum of £750 of funding per application
• Events that have not yet occurred; retrospective applications are not eligible
• Can be used to support a training event or a conference attendance for example
• Funding can only be approved for one development activity per academic year (September 2026 – August 2027)

PGR Development Fund cannot be used for:

• PGRs who have submitted their thesis for examination
• Funding beyond the maximum £750 fund allowance
• Applications related to data collection or incentivisation payments
• Retrospective applications for events in the past

Where the event costs exceed the £750 maximum, students will be expected to obtain additional funding, ideally from external sources. Please discuss this with your supervision team.

To apply for the fund, please complete the application form via this link.

(Please note that you will require an active UoD account to access the form).

There are five competitive rounds for Academic Year 2026-27 (see below). Applications should be made for an event that has yet to occur and not for an event you have already attended. Applications are usually reviewed two to three weeks after the deadline of a round, and then it can take up to five weeks to process the claim. This is why it is important to apply far in advance before the event takes place. If you have attended an event already, you cannot apply to claims the costs back.

Please see below for the deadlines along with the expected timings for events:

* The June round is to fund activities for events taking place in August, September, and October (this round will go forward into the 2027-28 academic year).

Guidelines

• This is a competitive fund, and applications will be assessed based on the quality and detail of information provided regarding the relevance to the doctoral project and the benefit to the PGR student
• Applicants are advised to apply for the PGR Development Fund at the same time they submit an abstract for the development activity (e.g. a conference presentation). Applications for events that already took place (i.e. retrospective applications) will not be considered
• Applicants are advised that applications for events e.g. conferences or symposia where the applicant is due to present their research (e.g. oral presentation or poster) are viewed favourably
• Only students who have successfully completed their Application for Registration are eligible to apply
• PGR students who have submitted their thesis for examination are not eligible to apply
• All applications need to be supported by the PGR student’s supervisory team
• Candidates successful in obtaining a PGR Development Fund will be required to present their research at an event organised by the Doctoral College (e.g. PGR Café, PGR-led Conference, PGR Forum) or support the organisation of a PGR event (e.g. PGR-led Conference). Future applications will be considered only if successful applicants have presented their research in one of the Doctoral College events
• Successful applicants are required to submit a short report of their development activities and associated outputs, outcomes and impact of the award; future applications will be considered only if a report from a previous funding has been submitted
• Successful applicants can only apply once per academic year (September 2026-August 2027)
• Incomplete applications will not be considered
• Only applications submitted via the online MS Forms will be accepted
• Innovation & Research do not have the capacity to arrange/pay any expenses on behalf of the students. Innovation & Research will arrange the reimbursement of relevant receipts with the Finance Department, which will take up to five weeks
• All costs must be claimed with the relevant receipts within two months of the expense being incurred to meet with the requirements of the University’s Finance.