Bell Burnell Graduate Scholarship Fund

The Bell Burnell Graduate Scholarship Fund

In March 2019, the Institute of Physics (IOP) launched the Bell Burnell Graduate Scholarship Fund (the Fund) to encourage greater diversity in physics by supporting students from groups currently under-represented in physics who wish to study towards a doctorate in physics.

The Fund was made possible thanks to the generosity of Professor Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell, who won the prestigious Breakthrough Prize for physics in 2018 for her role in the discovery of pulsars. Dame Jocelyn chose to donate her £2.3m prize award to the Institute of Physics in order to set up the Fund

How to apply

To apply, you must have an academic offer for a physics-based postgraduate doctoral programme at an eligible host university/institution and selected by the eligible host university/institution as a candidate for the grant.

As part of the application process, there are three independent parts that need to be completed by the student, prospective lead supervisor and the Head of School (or equivalent) . The application link and all the documentation for the Fund is available to download by visiting iop.org/bellburnellfund Application deadline 5pm BST Friday 21 January 2022 Late applications will not be assessed. The Bell Burnell Graduate Scholarship Fund Panel will assess applications which meet the eligibility criteria and shortlisted applicants will be invited for interview in the spring

• students must be from an underrepresented group in physics. For the purpose of this fund the definition* of under-represented groups in physics refers to: women, students of Black-Caribbean, Black-African and other minority ethnic (BAME) heritage, students with disabilities, or who require additional funding to support inclusive learning, LGBT+ students and students from disadvantaged backgrounds who may struggle to find the levels of funding needed to complete their studies. People with qualifying refugee status who meet the above criteria are also encouraged to apply;

*This definition will be reviewed

annually and amended in line with available data.

• the Fund will only support studies in a physics department, school or faculty that has either a Juno and/or Athena SWAN award that is current at the date of enrolment of the student on to the postgraduate doctoral course and on a physicsbased topic at a recognised graduate degree awarding institution

in the UK and Ireland;

• each host university/institution will normally be limited to submitting a single student application. Queries about submitting more than one should be addressed to the grants manager as soon as possible; • students may apply for one grant award only (an extension may be permitted in special circumstances at the discretion of the panel);

• two levels of award can be

requested: a co-funding award for the doctoral programme with a fixed maximum of £35k per student; or a top-up award to support additional costs that are needed to complete a iop.org/bellburnellfund The Fund Eligibility criteria How to apply Information for students Information for universities/institutions The process Grants calendar Get in touch A full set of terms and conditions can be found by visiting fully funded PhD. The top-up awards will have a maximum value of £10k

• people with a BSc qualification are encouraged to apply and;

• successful doctoral students can study either part-time or full-time.