Bursaries supporting conference attendance at the BSG 50th Anniversary Conference
Aims
The aim of the BSG 50@50 bursaries is to enable the following sub-groups to participate actively in the BSG conference:
- Students
- Unwaged
- Retired
- Postdoctoral students within 5 years of the award of their PhD
- People working for NGOs, not for profits and charities working in ageing or gerontology
- Co-researchers in participatory gerontological research projects, who are part of a research team carrying out some or all of the research activities alongside or independent of academic researchers
Bursaries are awarded by the Bursaries Panel, comprising two members of the Lancaster Scientific Committee and two members of the National Executive Committee, the Hon. Secretary, and the BSG Chair of the Emerging Researchers in Ageing network.
The budget allocated is proposed by the Treasurer in consultation with the Bursaries Panel and agreed by the Executive Committee. The Bursaries Panel apportions the budget as it thinks fit, according to the criteria and guidelines below, and taking into account:
- the number of applications submitted;
- the total amount requested by each applicant;
- and the target number of 50 awards to be made for the conference.
The BSG membership is informed about the bursary competition, deadlines and timelines through the BSG website and the BSG e-bulletins and conference communications. Non-members will be informed by promoting the bursary competition on relevant jiscmail lists, on social media, and via other relevant networks. Applicants will receive notification as to whether their application has been accepted in sufficient time for early-bird registration.
Bursary Award Acceptance Criteria and Guidelines
The Bursaries Panel considers all accepted applications and selects which applications should be awarded bursary support and what proportion of the amount requested is granted. In making the selection, the Panel will adopt the following guidelines:
- Applicants do not need to be or have been members of the Society in order to apply for a 50@50 bursary. Applicants are warmly encouraged to join the BSG but this will not be used as a criterion for the bursary awards.
- Support must only be requested for the BSG Annual Conference.
- Preference will be given to applications from individuals who have limited means to attend the conference.
- Applicants who have not previously been awarded a bursary will be given preference over those who have received a bursary in previous years. All applicants are limited to receiving a total of two bursaries.
- Applicants do not need to be presenting a paper or poster at the conference.However if choosing between candidates who are presenting a paper or poster, the quality of the abstract will be taken into account while awarding bursaries. There will be no preference by the Committee as between paper or poster abstracts.
- All applicants will be required to state why they wish to attend the conference. Preference will be given to those who give a clear justification with clearly stated expected outcomes from their conference attendance, and how they expect this will benefit the discipline of gerontology, the BSG, and/or the wellbeing of older people. Applicants who have submitted a paper or poster abstract will be required to attach the abstract to their application.
- Only applications received by the deadline will be considered for funding. Please be aware, responsibility for ensuring the application has been received lies with the applicant. If the applicant has not received acknowledgement of receipt of the application form within 5 working days from submission, the applicant should contact the Secretariat.
- Bursaries may be awarded in the following categories.Applicants will be asked to say which category or categories of bursary they are applying for, as well as to state with supporting evidence anticipated travel costs; applicants will be able to state if they wish to attend for a day but are not yet sure which day (for example because they are waiting to see the conference programme before deciding):
- 8.1 Full conference fees with two nights’ accommodation and up to £150 in travel costs, including Welcome Reception and Conference Dinner.
- 8.2. Full conference fees without accommodation and up to £150 in travel costs, including Welcome Reception and Conference Dinner.
- 8.3. Day attendance on the opening day (which will include the poster session)and up to £150 in travel costs: Wednesday 7th July 2021 from 1pm to the close of the conference at 6pm. The Wednesday day bursaries do not include a ticket to the Welcome Reception, although these will be available to purchase.[To note: the ERA conference, free to members to attend, will take place from Tuesday 6th July through to the start of the main conference at 1pm on Wednesday 7th July]
- 8.4. Day attendance on the middle day and up to £150 in travel costs: Thursday 8th July 2021 from 9am until the close of the conference at 6pm. The Thursday day bursaries do not include a ticket to the Conference Dinner, although these will be available to purchase.
- 8.5. Day attendance on the closing day and up to £150 in travel costs: Friday 9th July 2021, from 9am until the close of the conference at 2pm.
- Following notification of a bursary being awarded, applicants will be required to register for the conference by the Early Bird Deadline on 29 April 2021 otherwise their bursary will be forfeit. Each successful awardee will be allocated a code to book their accommodation and registration fee using the online booking system. Travel costs will be reimbursed after the conference on proof of cost and payment, to the maximum of £150 per bursary attendant.
- Where an applicant in receipt of a bursary finds they are unable to attend, they should contact the Secretariat immediately so that the award can be re-allocated to other applicants.Applicants notified as a result of this process that they have been awarded a bursary after the early-bird deadline will be given a reasonable period to register for the conference at the early bird rate.
- Successful applicants will be required to feed back to the Bursaries Panel about their conference experience and will be given the opportunity to write a blog for Ageing Issues after their conference attendance.
- The Bursaries Panel provides reports on awards made to the Executive Committee and the AGM.