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The Lockey Committee makes grants for attendance at overseas scientific conferences and symposia.

Remit of the scheme

Grants from the Lockey Bequest are limited "to the interest of science" without regard to departmental/faculty membership. The Lockey Committee will consider applications from all departments/units in the Mathematical, Physical and Life Sciences division (MPLS) and Medical Sciences division (MSD).

To qualify for support, a conference/workshop/meeting should be ‘open’ rather than restricted to a small number of people by special invitation only. If the applicant has been invited by an international programme committee or similar to present a talk, for example, this is also defined as ‘open’.

Support available

Grants can be requested up to the following amounts depending on event region:

  • Europe – up to £500
  • Rest of the World – up to £1,000

For the purposes of the Fund, Israel, Russia, and all countries bordering on the Mediterranean, are considered to be part of Europe.

The committee does not provide funds for:

  • Taught courses including summer schools (either for teachers or students).
  • Travel within the UK.
  • Visits abroad to plan research.
  • Costs associated with conducting research.
  • Attending events focused on clinical practice (i.e. not disseminating clinical/medical research).

Eligible costs

  1. Registration fees (including for virtual conference attendance)
  2. Accommodation
  3. Travel (including covering carbon offsetting for air travel*)
  4. Subsistence/meals during travel
  5. Car mileage

*Support to cover a carbon offsetting scheme is seperate from the University travel levy.

Costs are claimed by the University Expense Claim process therefore only costs that abide by this policy may be reimbursed by the Fund.

Applicants must hold a doctorate degree (DPhil/PhD) at the point of application and be a salaried employee of the University. Exemptions to this are accepted if the applicant is a member of Congregation.

Early career researchers (e.g. postdoctoral researchers, departmental lecturers) are encouraged to apply to the Lockey Fund and should have signed support from their supervisor/group leader on the Case for Support form. Staff on fixed term contracts are eligible to apply if the conference and travel dates do not exceed their contract end date.

Applicants holding visitor or honorary contracts are not eligible to apply. Emeritus Professors are also not eligible.

Applicants are eligible to reapply to the Lockey Fund for a new conference if needed. A maximum award total of £1,500 can be aggregated over four years. The aggregated four-year period includes the current academic year and the three academic years immediately preceding it.

Please submit your application online via the Internal Research Award Management System (IRAMS).

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

Note that some departments may have set an earlier internal deadline so please check with your local admin team and prepare your application well in advance of the advertised deadline date. Applications must be reviewed online for eligibility and departmental support by departmental approvers and, where approved, submitted to the Committee for review.

Applications for conferences which have already taken place or started before funding outcomes are communicated (i.e. 9th week) will not be considered, and out of round/late applications will not be accepted.

As part of the application you will need to complete and upload a short Case for Support which can be downloaded from IRAMS.

Filling in the IRAMS form

On IRAMS, ‘Project’ start and end dates should relate to the conference dates.

Funding requested should be detailed in the IRAMS Finance Details table using the following descriptions if appropriate:

  1. Registration fees
  2. Accommodation
  3. Travel
  4. Subsistence/meals
  5. Car mileage

Applications should be submitted by Friday (5pm) of 7th week each term.

This is the deadline both for applicants to apply and for departments to give Departmental Approval. Applicants should ask their department if there is an earlier internal deadline for submission for departmental review.

Submitted applications are reviewed in as a gathered field after each termly deadline, and funding outcomes are aimed to be communicated around 9th week of each term.

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