Awards and Scholarships
Applications for the 2023 round of Academic Awards are now closed.
The 2024 awards process will be open in early January 2024.
BFWG Academic Awardees 2023
Many congratulations to our BFWG Academic Awardees 2023
Research Presentation Day 2023
The Research Presentations Day award for 2023 was won by Anitta Rose Chacko, studying at University College London, for her work on ‘Picking the brain apart to gain insight into primary mitochondrial disorders’.
Am I eligible to apply for a BFWG Academic award?
Please answer the questions below to check your eligibility.
Guidance for applicants
Applications close at 5pm on Friday 3rd March 2023.
1. BFWG academic awards are awarded in competition on overall academic excellence. They are not intended to meet financial need. If you are looking primarily for financial support, please consider Funds for Women Graduates which is independent of the BFWG academic awards programme. You are entitled to apply both for BFWG academic awards and for FfWG grants but the application processes and websites are different (see www.ffwg.org.uk for the Funds for Women Graduates eligibility and application process).
2. The British Federation of Women Graduates academic awards are for women who will be in, or going into, their third year of doctoral research, or part time equivalent, at the time when the awards are given out in the autumn of each year.
Academic awards are given on the basis of evidence of academic excellence as shown on the application form, referee reports and, for those shortlisted, brief presentations of their research to a panel of academics.
The amounts offered in award range upwards from £1,000 with the average academic award being around £3,000 and the maximum being £6,000, payable in two parts: 50% at the start of the 2023 academic year and 50% on receipt of a progress report in the spring of 2024. The number of awards made each year depends on the funds available and on the quality of the applications, but five to eight awards are usually given.
The final selection is made in June / July of each year and awards are given out in October/November, with a further payment in the following spring.
3. Eligibility for a BFWG award in 2023. Are you...
- Working towards a research or professional doctorate? Students studying for any form or Master's degree are not eligible.
- Registered at a university in England, Wales or Scotland (not Northern Ireland).
- Resident (at least temporarily) in England, Wales or Scotland? We are unable to accept applications from distance learners overseas.
- A full time student with an expectation of submission between March 2024 and February 2025 or a or a part time student with an expectation of submission between March 2024 and February 2026. Please do not apply if you expect to submit your thesis before the end of February 2024.
- Confident of registration for academic year 2023/24? The first payment of the academic awards are not given out until we receive evidence that the fees for the year commencing October 2023 have been paid, or waived by the university.
- Applying for a BFWG Academic Award for the first time? You can only make an application for a BFWG academic award once.
4. How do I apply?
To make an application for a BFWG academic award, download and complete the Application Form.
Make a payment via PayPal (see directions in Checklist).
Email Application Form back to awards@bfwg.org.uk giving the subject heading of your email ‘AWARD APPLICATION’.
To complete the process of application, refer to the Checklist in the Guidance document below.
5. We do acknowledge all applications received but this can take some days. Please do not write asking if we have received your application unless it is over two weeks after the closing date, and you have not had an acknowledgement. The same applies to the referee reports – we acknowledge all we receive but the process may take a few days.
6. Shortlisted candidates will be informed, by early July (ideally earlier). It is expected that candidates will give a short presentation in person, probably in London, in July 2023 (likely to be 18th and 19th July). In exceptional circumstances, alternative online arrangements can be arranged.
At the interview those candidates will be asked to speak for 8 minutes on their research, which will be followed by questions from the interviewing panel of academics. Throughout the application assessment, the criteria for making awards are a student’s overall academic excellence, quality of research and the ability to communicate this.
If you have queries, please get in touch with us on: awardsqueries@bfwg.org.uk
Guidance for Referees
Deadline for references is 10th March 2023.
Please note that it would be very helpful to the process of expanding our network of assessors for applications if you are able to suggest a couple of academics in your candidate’s field whom we might approach as possible assessors in this or future years. (We would not necessarily use them to assess your candidate).
Data Protection Law requires that a student is entitled to see the reference, although this request is rarely made.
GENERAL. Thank you very much indeed for supporting your student’s application for a BFWG Academic Award. BFWG gives its awards on the basis of overall academic excellence.
If your student is looking primarily for funds to meet a financial need, it may be more appropriate for her to apply to Funds for Women Graduates www.ffwg.org.uk . Students are welcome to apply for both a BFWG Academic Award and a FfWG Grant but the processes run independently and the addresses to which applications/references etc should be sent are NOT the same.
BFWG Academic Awards reward outstanding academic excellence as shown by past achievements, progress of doctoral research, outreach activities, referees’ comments and ability to communicate the research if shortlisted for interview.
THE REFERENCE.
We are hoping for your views on the student’s:
• academic progress,
• capacity for independent judgment and innovative research,
• the progress of the thesis, and
• your comments on overall personality and any other notable activity in the university and outreach, as you feel relevant.
Please could you indicate how long and in what capacity you have known the student.
Our awards are given to doctoral students who are or will be going into, their third year of doctoral studies (or equivalent in the case of part time students) in the autumn of 2023, with the expectation of submitting between March 2024 and December 2024 for full time students and between March 2024 and Decemeber 2025 for part time students.
Where possible, please can you assure us of the student’s likely registration with their university for the year from October 2023.
THE PROCESS.
In 2022, out over 100 applications, 18 were interviewed and 10 Awards totalling £20,000 were made. Shortlisted students present their work at interview usually in July, ideally in person. Awards will be paid in autumn 2023 following confirmation of continuing university registration. Individual awards average around £3,000 but may be up to £6,000.
It is now 110 years since BFWG first made an academic award - £120 to Caroline Spurgeon in 1912 to enable her to complete her work on Geoffrey Chaucer. Spurgeon went on to become one of the first female professors in the UK and we are honoured to have such a long record of supporting the higher education of women through academic awards.
Closing date for applications is 3rd March 2023.
Deadline for references is 10th March 2023.
Sending the reference:
Please send your reference by email, to references@bfwg.org.uk. We do appreciate references with your department/institution’s header, the name of the candidate clearly at the top of the reference and your own affiliation on the reference.
Please put: REFERENCE and the student’s full name as the ‘subject’ of the email.
ONCE AGAIN THANK YOU VERY MUCH INDEED FOR YOUR HELP
If you have any further queries, please email us at awardsqueries@bfwg.org.uk.
Please make sure to pay the £25.00 application fee
(Please note this fee is non-refundable)