Public Engagement Personal Development Fund

Public Engagement Personal Development Fund
About the scheme
Staff and students can apply for funds to put towards conference fees, course fees, or travel and subsistence related to developing their public engagement skills. In exchange you will have to demonstrate how you will meaningfully share the learning you gain with others and commit to taking part in at least one Resonate event in the 12 months following receipt of funding. We particularly encourage applications to attend events relevant to your sector or career stage (e.g. a conference focussed on outreach in maths, or a training session specifically for early career engagers).
How much can I apply for?
- Students can apply for a maximum of £500
- Staff can apply for a maximum of £200 (with the expectation that their department should also contribute towards the cost if it exceeds this amount)
- Please note you can only receive support from this fund once per academic year
What do you mean by public engagement?
Please read our webpage about what public engagement is. In your application, please show how you will engage with people outside universities (i.e. not just other staff or students).
How will applications be judged
Applications will be checked internally by the WIE Team to confirm the funding will be used in line with the purpose of the scheme, and then awards are made on a first come first serve basis. We will close to new applications until the start of the following term once the fund has been allocated. We will open a new call at the start of each term.
You will normally hear from us within 2 weeks.
Other information
- We will not fund activity if we are hosting a masterclass on campus that covers the same content within the same academic year (for example we would not support you to pay to do an externally run presentation skills session as we regularly host these at Warwick).
- The training session or conference you are attending must directly relate to public engagement work you are doing or plan to do, or that you plan to embed into your teaching.
- We will not fund conference attendance for conferences that are not directly about public engagement/ outreach. For example you cannot ask for funding to attend a conference which will give you access to an audience you want to engage with, we see this as outside the scope of this fund.
- You do not have to be a WIE Fellow to apply, however they will have the first opportunity to apply each term before it’s advertised more widely to others.
- There is no restriction on when your conference takes place vs which fund you apply for - for example you can apply in October for a conference happening in July, but you must spend the allocated funds by 31 July 2024. After this point (the end of the financial year) WIE no longer have the budget to allocate to you and any unclaimed expenses will be your own to cover.
- From August 2023 we will be operating a 2 strike policy for no shows at our externally led masterclasses. If you book a masterclass and do not attend without cancelling your place 7 days in advance you will receive a strike. After 2 strikes we will no longer allow you to book for our masterclasses, and you will be barred from applying to this fund until the following academic year.
Fund Dates
The fund will open at the start of each academic term and remain open until the budget has been spent. Awards are made on a first come, first served basis (as long as the application demonstrates you meet our criteria) so there is no deadline as such.We will open the fund to WIE Fellows first each term, before accepting applications from others.
Autumn Call
- Applications accepted from WIE Fellows from Monday 2 October
- Applications from all others accepted from Monday 9 October
Spring Call
- Applications accepted from WIE Fellows from Monday 8 January
- Applications from all others accepted from Monday 15 January
Summer Call
- Applications accepted from WIE Fellows from Monday 22 April
- Applications from all others accepted from Monday 29 April