The Economics Department provides funding for MRes/PhD students throughout the programme to support research expenses.

• Personal Conference Fund (£1500 per student)
• Discretionary Research Fund (£40,000 pot per year)
• Job Market Personal Fund (£1500 per student on the job market to attend US & European Job Market event)

In general, we would expect you to claim from your Personal Conference Fund first for most claims. Once you have depleted that fund then you should apply to the Discretionary Research Fund. If your requirement is a claim that better fits the eligible expenses from the Discretionary Research Fund, then you should apply directly to that, bearing in mind the timelines for the next available round of applications and the timing of the requirements of your research project.

Below is a brief overview to help you understand which fund to apply for, what is eligible, and how to apply for these funds.

***Please read the PGR Research Funding ProcedureLink opens in a new window in full before applying to any of these funds*** This document contains more detailed information that you will need to be aware of before applying to any of these options.

Personal Conference Fund

This provides a maximum of £1500 per student over the course of the MRes and PhD programme (six years maximum).

• Eligible expenses include: journal submission fees, participation in high quality conferences or workshops including conference registration fees, associated visa costs, associated travel and accommodation, purchase of data or a contribution towards fieldwork expenses and summer school attendance. Other research related costs may be considered upon application.

To Apply: Complete the application form PGR Personal Conference Fund and email it to N.S.Deven@warwick.ac.uk for approval. (Read the PGR Research Funding ProcedureLink opens in a new window before applying). Approval must be confirmed before any expenditure takes place.

Discretionary Research Fund

A fund total of £40,000 per annum

This is available to MRes year 2 students and PhD students.

• Eligible expenses include: data purchase, fieldwork, experiments, attendance at high quality conferences* if presenting. Other research related costs may be considered upon application.
• There is an upper limit of £2000 for each individual application.

• Applications will be considered on a quarterly basis with deadlines: 1st January, 1st April, 1st July, 1st October each year.
• Funding will be awarded after a grading and evaluation process.
• At the end of the funded activity, you will be asked to submit a short report via an online form.
• *note that in 2023-24 we have introduced a limit on the number of conference attendances that will be funded through this particular fund per year, based on the year of the programme that you are currently in, as follows:
  • MRes year 2 and PhD years 1 and 4 - no conference attendances will be funded (please use your Personal Conference Fund)
  • PhD years 2 and 3 - up to 2 conference attendances, if presenting your paper, may be funded per year

 To Apply: Complete the online form Discretionary Research Fund Application. A description of the project, a breakdown of the costs and a supervisor supporting statement are required. (Read the PGR Research Funding ProcedureLink opens in a new window before applying).

Job Market Personal Fund

This provides a maximum contribution of £1500 per student.

Available to students formally on the Economics Job Market and engaging in the Department’s Job Market Placement Strategy.

• Eligible expenses include flights, accommodation and visa costs associated with attendance at ASSA and AEA job market conferences. (See Appendix A in the PGR Research Funding Procedure)
• It is the student’s responsibility to keep a running total of spend from this fund and to ensure you do not claim above the limit.

To Apply: You do not need to request permission in advance to book for attendance at these two Job Market conferences for the purposes of the Job Market first round of interviews. A list of eligible students will be given to the Finance Officer who will be able to book your flight/accommodation through Key Travel for you if necessary (refer to Appendix A). All travel expenses must be claimed within three months of expenditure.

NOTE: these two conferences have in the past few years announced the job market interview round would be online only and so this funding has not been applicable. This is a decision made annually and we will resume funding this travel if this reverts back to in-person interviews at the conferences. This funding is not available for general conference attendance.

IMPORTANT:

• Please note that ALL expenditures MUST comply with the University Financial Regulations and ProceduresLink opens in a new window. We have provided a summary of these in Appendix A and Appendix B in the PGR Research Funding ProcedureLink opens in a new window document to help simplify these. However, if in any doubt, please ask.
• It is YOUR responsibility to ensure you understand and abide by the Financial Regulations. We may not reimburse costs if they do not comply.

• Please ensure that you have received approval on any proposed expenditure BEFORE you go ahead with any bookings or purchases or requests for reimbursement.
• The following are key things to note:
  • Airbnb accommodation does not comply with University Financial Regulations.
  • If your travel & accommodation costs combined are £500 or more you MUST use Key Travel to book these.
  • If you are travelling outside Europe, you MUST use Key Travel to book travel and accommodation, regardless of the combined total.
  • You MUST complete a risk assessment for all overseas travel (Europe or outside Europe) prior to a booking being made Overseas Travel Risk Assessment (warwick.ac.uk)