ECH Grants: Conference attendance & organisation

1 October 2014

For conference attendance:

  • Your ‘home’ institution: As with travel for research trips and training, this is always the place to start. Most (but not all) internal funding opportunities are advertised at roughly the same time each year within a given institution.  Acquainting yourself with the normal deadlines for these internal pots of money in your first months/year of study will increase your likelihood of being funding, and enhance your ability to coordinate internal and external funding applications;
  • Royal Historical Society: The RHS provides funding to assist doctoral candidates and postdoctoral early career historians to give papers at national and international conferences.  Remember that the total number of RHS applications you can make is limited: don’t lose the opportunity to apply for an expensive conference late in your degree by applying for multiple less expensive, local ones early in your studies.  Details of RHS conference funding are available here.
  • Scholarly societies: The scholarly societies that organise many conferences offer bursaries to assist some ECRs to attend their events. Information on this funding will normally be provided when you register for a conference or submit a paper for consideration.

For conference organisation:

  • Your ‘home’ institution: As always, this is the most sensible place to start. Many departments, faculties and graduate schools offer ECRs funding to organise conferences.  You will enhance your application for external funding if you have already applied for/secured internal funding of this kind;
  • British Academy: The BA/Leverhulme Small Grants scheme (noted above) can be used to organise workshops or conferences. For eligibility and terms, see http://www.britac.ac.uk/funding/guide/srg.cfm ;
  • Economic History Society: The Society provides funding, on a competitive basis, for conference organisation on topics related to economic and/or social history. See http://www.ehs.org.uk/the-society/grants-awards-and-prizes/initiatives-and-conference-fund.html ;
  • Paul Mellon Centre: This centre provides funding, once annually, for conferences in the field of the history of art and architecture. See http://www.paul-mellon-centre.ac.uk/11/
  • Royal Historical Society: The RHS provides funding for conference organisation twice a year.  Full details are available here.