The ABCP Bursary Fund provides funding to students who are experiencing ‘unforeseen exceptional circumstances’ during the period of their degree course study.
Unforeseen exceptional circumstances
All applications will be considered on their own merit and ‘unforeseen exceptional circumstances’. Although there is no firm definition to ‘unforeseen exceptional circumstances’, the following are some examples that may lead to exceptional circumstances:
- Student’s family has planned to provide financial support but were unable to do so due to unforeseen health issues of family member;
- Health issues prevented student from completing within funded period, in order to submit thesis on time student was unable to continue paid employment;
- The external funding is terminated unexpectedly, which is not due to students’ performance;
- COVID-19 epidemic prevents some students from continuing with their part-time work to fund their studies.
In 2020, priority will be given to cases where the students are affected by COVID-19 epidemic.
Eligibility Criteria
The applicants should be in one of the following groups:
- Chinese students studying at a UK higher educational institution (HEI) recognised by the UK government (https://www.gov.uk/check-a-university-is-officially-recognised/recognised-bodies);
- British students studying at an HEI in China officially recognised by China’s Ministry of Education (http://www.moe.gov.cn/srcsite/A03/moe_634/);
- students principally supervised by an ABCP Full/Associate Member in the UK are eligible to submit an application for funding.
Awards will not normally be made to research students who have submitted their thesis, or MSc / UG students who have completed all the course programme and wait for graduation.
Award
- The Fund will be up to £1,000 per award. However, additional funding may be available in exceptional circumstances.
- Awardees will receive a certificate of the award.
- Awardees will be offered a complimentary registration at the subsequent ABCP Annual Conference.
Application Procedure
Applications for the award should be submitted via email to bursary_fund@abcp.org.uk, consisting of the following:
- A support letter from the applicant’s supervisor or an ABCP Full/Associate Member;
- An updated CV with the applicant’s current degree programme, contact details including University email address;
- The explanation to the unforeseen exceptional circumstances, why the bursary is required and how the bursary will assist the completion of the applicant’s degree course.
Assessment
An ABCP selection panel will assess the applications using the following main criteria:
- The unforeseen exceptional circumstances
- The impact of the bursary to the applicant towards the successful completion of his/her degree course
Application Deadlines
There are two rounds of call for applications per year and this is the second call for applications in 2020. The deadline for submitting an application to this call is:
- 4 December 2020
Applicants should expect to hear about the outcome of their applications by 20 December 2020.
Further inquiry, please contact Mrs Ronge Wang at Ronge.Wang@abcp.org.uk.