The Department has a small amount of funding available for the allocation of Research Studentship Awards, which can provide some assistance with fees or maintenance. In 2009/10 a total of 85 awards have been made on the basis of merit and need.

Research Awards are available to all full or part time Research students. All MPhil/PhD and MRes/PhD applicants who receive an offer of admission will be sent details on how to obtain the application form via a website link. Hard copies of the form can also be requested from theFinancial Support Office|. To contact them email Financial-Support@lse.ac.uk|. Continuing students will be sent the form by email in December.

Application forms must be returned to the Financial Support Office|, NOT the Government Department, before the deadline advertised on the LSE Research Studentship Scheme| page (usually early June).

Research and teaching studentships

This award is available to Government Department research students who teach at least one undergraduate class during the year of the award. Awards are for 1 year.

Students with full ESRC or AHRC awards are not eligible.

Award Values in 2009/10 are around:
Half fees for students in years 1-3 of their Research in addition to £1000 for the teaching studentship.

Conditions of Teaching Studentship Awards
Awards are made on the condition that the award holder commits to teach one class during the year of the award. The award includes the payment for teaching this one class. Award holders teaching more than one class will receive additional payment.

Awards are also made on the condition that the student is in full-time registration for the duration of the academic year. If a student changes registration from full-time to part-time, or from overseas to home, or registration to only part of the year, or withdraws from class teaching during any part of the award year, the award will be withdrawn. Those intending to apply would need to go before the Teaching Selection Panel each year. The selection process is to be fair and transparent, and made by the same committee which awards other departmental Research Studentships.

Application process
Please check with Madeleine Bothe, Research Programme Administrator gov.research_admin@lse.ac.uk| for details on how to apply.

The Baroness Birk Scholarship

The Baroness Birk Scholarship is normally awarded annually by the Department, and carries the single payment of £1,000. The award is made for work in areas of political science close to the interests and concerns of Lady Birk, whose public life included journalism, politics and government.

The William Robson Prize

The William Robson Memorial Prize has been established by friends and colleagues of the late Professor W A Robson, Professor of Public Administration from 1947 to 1967, and associated with the School from 1926 until his death in 1980. He was the founder and, for 45 years, the joint editor of The Political Quarterly. The prizes are intended to help present or recent students of the School to prepare for publication as articles or books, work in the subject areas of interest to the late Professor Robson. This includes public administration, planning, public law, nationalised industries and city and local government, in a national or international perspective. The awards are available to meet any type of expense (excluding payments to publishers) that, in the opinion of the School would be necessary to bring about publication, such as necessary costs or facilities for preparing the manuscript for publication. The value of each award is at the discretion of the Awards Panel and will be made only if the work submitted for consideration is deemed to be of sufficient merit.

Applications should be made in writing to the Financial Support Office.

Beneficiaries will be required to acknowledge the assistance of the William Robson Memorial Fund in any publication facilitated by the award of the Prize.

Departmental Support for Conference Attendance

There are 2 sources of funding to support research students who attend conferences and such claims include travel, subsistence and conference fees.

Political Studies Association (PSA) or European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR) Conferences

Research students can claim £80 each towards the cost of expenses they incur for attendance at the PSA or ECPR. To make a claim the ORIGINAL receipts must be presented to the Research Programme Administrator, Josephine Burchell (gov.research_admin@lse.ac.uk| ) in H318.

Please note: Students can only claim once during their course of study.

Invitation to Present a Paper at a Conference

The Department supports research students if they have been invited to present a paper. Students may make up to 2 applications for funding support; the first time up to the value of £200 and the second time up to the value of £100. The following conditions also apply:

That we receive an email from their supervisor in support of attendance.
That the paper they are invited to give is related to their PhD.
That they are currently registered.
That they have not claimed conference expenses from departmental funds in their study time at the School (apart from the £80 for PSA or ECPR conferences)
That they are within 12 months of their expected submission date.
That original receipts to cover the entire amount they are claiming are sent to the Research Programme Administrator, Josephine Burchell(gov.research_admin@lse.ac.uk ) in H318.

To apply for introduction cards please refer to the information under Research Degree FAQ's|

School Support for Conference Attendance

The Postgraduate Travel fund provides small grants to assist with the costs of attending a conference. Applications are carefully considered by the Convenor of the Postgraduate Travel Fund but awards are not made in all cases. Early application is strongly advised as funds are very limited. Retrospective applications cannot be considered. Contact the Financial Support Office| for further details and for an application form.

It may also be worth applying for the University of London Central Research Fund. Since its introduction in 1937 the Central Research Fund has given substantial aid to many members of this University working on research projects. Grants are made from University Trust Funds and may be awarded for, or as a contribution towards, expenses incurred in undertaking a specific project of research, e.g. for a special piece of equipment, for a journey, for the cost of copying, or microfilming source material, or for additional costs of maintenance away where they exceed costs of maintenance at home. For further details refer to the University of London entry in the A-Z of external scholarships and aid| (on the Financial Support pages).

LSE (School-wide) Financial Help and Information

See the Financial Support Office website

Links to other External Funding Sources

Useful Publications

The brief list below contains details of major reference works for those seeking financial help from education trusts, charities or foundations. Copies may usually be found in British reference libraries or British Council offices.

Awards for Postgraduate Study at Commonwealth Universities. For postgraduate study or research in Commonwealth universities outside your own country. (ACU, John Foster House, 36 Gordon Square, London WC1H 0PF.)

The Grants Register. (Macmillan Publishers Ltd, via Globe Book Services Ltd, Brunel Road, Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hants. RG21 2XS.)

Study Abroad. Information about international scholarships and scholarships to British universities. (UNESCO, 7 Place de Fontenoy, 75700 Paris, France.)

British Government and British Council Awards Schemes for Overseas Students. A general guide to British Government schemes of assistance. (Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Overseas Students Policy Section, Cultural Relations Department, FCO, Whitehall, London SW1A 2AF.)