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Hester Cordelia Parsons Fund

The Hester Cordelia Parsons Fund (HCP) invites applications from members of the University for grants that support the costs of research in experimental biological science.

Remit of the scheme

The Fund aims to encourage the development of experimental methods at the boundaries of biological, physical and chemical sciences. Applications that do not clearly involve the development of experimental methods (e.g., applications for basic laboratory running costs, etc.) are unlikely to be competitive. 

Awards will typically be no longer than 12 months.

Support available

The Fund supports two types of award:

Development and Collaboration award (maximum £2k). Eligible costs include:

  • Travel and subsistence costs in visiting laboratories in the UK or overseas;
  • Training courses in experimental techniques.

Research award (maximum £5k). Eligible costs include:

  • The above eligible costs under a Development and Collaboration award (capped up to £2k)
  • Purchase of small items of equipment;
  • Other relevant research related purposes, at the discretion of the board of management.

Applicants can only apply for one type of award each round; please state clearly on your Case for Support document which category your application falls into.

Requests for the following costs will NOT be supported: 

          (a)     Laptops;

          (b)     Contributions to the cost of large items of equipment;

          (c)     Routine consumables;

          (d)     Attendance at conferences (please note this is an eligible cost through the Lockey Fund

The Fund is open to DPhil students and early career researchers (ECR) from MPLS and MSD. For this scheme an ECR is defined as:

  • Having a maximum 6 years’ full-time equivalent* postdoctoral experience at the point of application
  • Not hold an open-ended or academic position

Please note that priority will be given to applicants who have not yet received major independent funding (e.g. from a Fellowship). Junior Research Fellows and those without access to a wide range of sources for funding support are particularly encouraged to apply.

*excluding e.g., parental leave, career breaks and other extenuating circumstances.

Applicants will need to complete and upload a short Case for Support form and 1-page CV to the University’s online application portal - Internal Research Award Management System (IRAMS). The Case for Support form can also be downloaded from IRAMS.

Guidance on using IRAMS for applicants, departmental approvers, and administrators can be found on the Research Support pages.

Please note that departments may have set an earlier internal deadline as they will need to review and approve applications ahead of the Fund deadline. Applicants are encouraged to flag their interest in applying with their local admin/research facilitation team as soon as possible and prepare your application well in advance of the advertised deadline date. 

The Hester Cordelia Parsons Fund will re-open at the beginning of Michaelmas 2025 with a deadline of Friday 13th February (week 4 of Hilary Term 2026).

Please note the above deadline is for departments to review, approve and submit applications to the Fund.

For queries, please contact research@mpls.ox.ac.uk.