Department Financial Support

Titmuss Meinhardt Hardship Fund

The Department has a small hardship fund which is available to all Social Policy students in cases of unforeseeable financial need or emergency and where students have been unable to obtain assistance from the School’s Financial Support Office (FSO).

Applicants should submit a covering statement which sets out the reasons for the application and specifies the amount requested. Third party evidence, such as a bank statement, should also be submitted as appropriate. A supporting statement from the student’s Academic Mentor, and proof of an unsuccessful application to FSO, are also required.

Applications to be submitted to Damian Roberts, Department Manager
d.p.roberts@lse.ac.uk

Eleanor Will Fund

To provide up to £300 to current Social Policy students to assist with travel abroad for opportunities connected with their programme of study. Applicants should submit a one-page outline to explain the purpose of the travel, how it relates to their programme of study, and the use to which the funds will be put. Legitimate costs include direct travel costs and accommodation, but not conference fees. NB Funds cannot be used to fund trips to the applicant’s normal country of residence and students cannot receive more than £300 in total from the fund during the course of their programme of study. Successful applicants will be required to submit a report of their trip (500-1000 words) within four weeks of its completion.

Applicants should submit a covering statement which sets out the reasons for the application and specifies the amount requested. Third party evidence, such as a proof of travel and accommodation costs, should also be submitted as appropriate.

Applications can be submitted at any time and will be reviewed on a rolling basis.

Applications to be submitted to Damian Roberts, Department Manager
d.p.roberts@lse.ac.uk

Titmuss Meinhardt Hardship Fund

The Department has a small hardship fund which is available to all Social Policy students in cases of unforeseeable financial need or emergency and where students have been unable to obtain assistance from the School’s Financial Support Office (FSO).

Applicants should submit a covering statement which sets out the reasons for the application and specifies the amount requested. Third party evidence, such as a bank statement, should also be submitted as appropriate. A supporting statement from the student’s Academic Mentor, and proof of an unsuccessful application to FSO, are also required.

Applications to be submitted to Damian Roberts, Department Manager
d.p.roberts@lse.ac.uk

Eleanor Will Fund

To provide up to £300 to current Social Policy students to assist with travel abroad for opportunities connected with their programme of study. Applicants should submit a one-page outline to explain the purpose of the travel, how it relates to their programme of study, and the use to which the funds will be put. Legitimate costs include direct travel costs and accommodation, but not conference fees. NB Funds cannot be used to fund trips to the applicant’s normal country of residence and students cannot receive more than £300 in total from the fund during the course of their programme of study. Successful applicants will be required to submit a report of their trip (500-1000 words) within four weeks of its completion.

Applicants should submit a covering statement which sets out the reasons for the application and specifies the amount requested. Third party evidence, such as a proof of travel and accommodation costs, should also be submitted as appropriate.

Applications can be submitted at any time and will be reviewed on a rolling basis.

Applications to be submitted to Damian Roberts, Department Manager
d.p.roberts@lse.ac.uk

MSc Conference and Research Fund

To provide up to £100 to help with the cost of attending events such as workshops or conferences, or with the cost of research-related activities such as travel or participant interview expenses. Applicants should provide a statement of not less than 250 words detailing how attendance or activities would benefit their studies and/or dissertation research, along with supporting third party evidence, such as proof of conference fees, as appropriate. NB Students cannot receive more than £100 in total from the fund during the course of their programme of study. Successful applicants will also be required in due course to provide a short testimonial detailing how they benefitted from the funding.
Read student testimonials here.

Applications to be submitted to Damian Roberts, Department Manager
d.p.roberts@lse.ac.uk

Titmuss Meinhardt Hardship Fund

The Department has a small hardship fund which is available to all Social Policy students in cases of unforeseeable financial need or emergency and where students have been unable to obtain assistance from the School’s Financial Support Office (FSO).

Applicants should submit a covering statement which sets out the reasons for the application and specifies the amount requested. Third party evidence, such as a bank statement, should also be submitted as appropriate. A supporting statement from the student’s Academic Mentor, and proof of an unsuccessful application to FSO, are also required.

Applications to be submitted to Damian Roberts, Department Manager
d.p.roberts@lse.ac.uk

Eleanor Will Fund

To provide up to £300 to current Social Policy students to assist with travel abroad for opportunities connected with their programme of study. Applicants should submit a one-page outline to explain the purpose of the travel, how it relates to their programme of study, and the use to which the funds will be put. Legitimate costs include direct travel costs and accommodation, but not conference fees. NB Funds cannot be used to fund trips to the applicant’s normal country of residence and students cannot receive more than £300 in total from the fund during the course of their programme of study. Successful applicants will be required to submit a report of their trip (500-1000 words) within four weeks of its completion.

Applicants should submit a covering statement which sets out the reasons for the application and specifies the amount requested. Third party evidence, such as a proof of travel and accommodation costs, should also be submitted as appropriate.

Applications can be submitted at any time and will be reviewed on a rolling basis.

Applications to be submitted to Damian Roberts, Department Manager
d.p.roberts@lse.ac.uk

Titmuss Meinhardt Funding for PhD students

The Titmuss Meinhardt Memorial Fund provides limited funds to support the activities of the Department of Social Policy’s PhD students:

a) Data access: to pay for expenses relating to data access (including fees related to the addition of questions into a survey). An individual student will not normally be awarded more than £1,000 in any one academic year. This amount is pro-rated for students enrolled on a part-time basis.

b) Job market interviews at conferences: to pay for travel/accommodation/registration costs when attending conference-based job market interviews. An individual student will not normally be awarded more than £400 in total during the course of their programme of study.

Students with alternative sources of funding, such as an ESRC or LSE Studentships or the LSE Postgraduate Travel Fund, may only apply for Titmuss Meinhardt funds if the alternative source of funding is not available.

Application procedure

Applications should be submitted to the Secretary of the Committee (Damian Roberts, Department Manager, Department of Social Policy: d.p.roberts@lse.ac.uk).

The application should include i) details of the proposed expenditure, ii) a statement of support from the student’s PhD supervisor and, where applicable, iii) evidence that alternative sources of funding are not available (see above).

Applications are accepted on a rolling basis throughout the year. Applicants will be notified of the Committee’s decision within one month during term time and within two months outside of term time.

Successful applicants will be required in due course to provide a short testimonial detailing how they benefitted from the funding.

John Hills Impact and Inclusion Award

John Hills was, among many other roles, a doctoral supervisor in the department of social policy from 1996 until his untimely death in 2020. This award has been established in his memory and funded by some of his former PhD students. He was unfailingly generous with his time and supportive of his supervisees, providing both stimulating comments and enthusiastic encouragement. He championed social and economic inclusion, and real-world policy impact, in his own work and his way of working, and it is for this reason that we have chosen these two areas as priorities for this award.

Currently registered PhD students in the Department of Social Policy, as well as those who have submitted their thesis within the last 12 months, may apply to the fund for a grant of up to £500. Note that previous beneficiaries are not eligible.

Topics should broadly fall under either of the following themes:

• Inclusion: to help tackle inequalities of any sort within (i.e., while undertaking) academic research.
• Impact: to facilitate knowledge exchange/impact activities in tackling societal inequalities.

Number of awards: One grant will be awarded per term (Autumn and Winter Terms).

Application timeline:Applications should be received by Friday 5pm (GMT) during Week 6 of Autumn Term/Winter Term. The application should take the form of a letter explaining why you need the award and the use to which it would be put, bearing in mind the criteria outlined below. It should be sent to Socialpolicy.Phd@lse.ac.ukwith the subject line, ‘John Hills Impact and Inclusion Award’, and any necessary supporting documents (for example, evidence of estimated costs) should be attached. The outcome will be communicated to all applicants by Friday 5pm (GMT) during Week 8.

Selection committee: The committee comprises one former PhD student and one current member of Social Policy faculty (not the Director of the PhD programme).

Award payment: The award amount will be sent to the successful applicant via online transfer from the Department. No expense claim procedure is required prior to the transfer. Instead, applicants are encouraged to donate back any unspent amount to the Award using the Schools ‘donation’ page here(select ‘Academic Departments’ and choose Social Policy, and specify ‘John Hills Impact and Inclusion Award’ in the additional comment box).

Criteria:

• Inclusion: priority will be given to applications from students who require temporary assistance to overcome financial difficulties, or who come from disadvantaged backgrounds. Please explain in your application if this applies to your case.
• Impact: priority will be given to applications from students whose research has the potential for significant impact on real-world social policy in Britain or internationally, especially concerning social and economic disadvantage (or inequalities). Applicants should explain how the proposed activities have the potential for impact on real-world inequalities, whether within or outside academic research.

Examples of uses of funds

Inclusion and impact are broadly defined within this scheme, and the selection committee will assess the merit on a case-by-case basis.

Inclusion:

• Costs of additional support required for the applicant to complete the research without experiencing deterioration in their mental or physical well-being.
• Costs of support that can help applicants manage a sudden change of family circumstances, such as a loss of a family member (including a miscarriage).
• Costs associated with managing family commitment for the applicant to present their research in conferences or workshop or to attend a training (that is not provided within the LSE but considered necessary by the primary supervisor).

Impact:

• Costs associated with hosting a workshop, such as providing light lunch and non-alcoholic refreshments to participants, and travel costs reimbursement for participants who otherwise would not be able to attend the event organised by the applicant.
• Cost of proofreading service for non-native speaking students before submitting their paper to a journal.
• Professional service costs (such as infographic design work for an alternative mode of research finding dissemination) for a targeted social media campaign to disseminate research findings.
• Cost of living that is required to sustain oneself while setting up a research impact project.

Previous Awards

Philippa Mullins, PhD alumna, received the inaugural John Hills Impact and Inclusion Award and used it towards the costs of a knowledge exchange event for the ‘Building Access’ project in Gyumri, Armenia. The project uses art-based interview methods to discuss with disabled children their experiences of school and to re-imagine what inclusion means. The event included an exhibition of the children’s drawings and quotations, a video-screening, presentations and open discussion, and succeeded in engaging social workers, teachers, NGO representatives, journalists and disability specialists. This ground-breaking work will continue, with some participants expressing a desire to form a support group for practitioners after the event to share ideas and experiences.

Read the report here.

If you need more -

...information about this award: please contact Socialpolicy.Phd@lse.ac.uk

...substantial financial assistance for living costs: please see https://info.lse.ac.uk/current-students/financial-support

...funding for Knowledge Exchange and Impact, please see

https://info.lse.ac.uk/staff/services/knowledge-exchange-and-impact/funding-opportunities-for-kei