Q. What funding is available for MPhil and PhD students in the Department?
The Department of Psychology aims to support postgraduate students that do not have access to consumables or research funding by providing access to discretionary departmental funding. Eligible MPhil and PhD students are able to apply to access up to £600 of discretionary funding per year as a contribution towards personal research consumables – with an additional ‘overdraft’ of £350 per year for exceptional circumstances. In order to access these funds, you will be sent an application form during your first term. Permission to access this funding is discretionary. The deadline for applying for this funding is 1 month from when your academic year starts; any application made after this deadline will not be considered. The discretionary funding is not available during the write-up year of a PhD. Students who are granted funding and require an 'overdraft' must apply for it by contacting the Postgraduate Administrator pgadmin@psychol.cam.ac.uk
Q. Who is eligible to access this discretionary funding?
All MPhil students are eligible. PhD students are eligible if their funding body does not provide funds for personal research consumables. If you do not know, please check with your funder before applying. The application form will require you to confirm that you have checked with your funding body, and to provide your funding award letter. The discretionary funding is not available during the write-up year of a PhD.
Q. What are personal research consumables?
Consumables are costs associated with student research projects (e.g., paying participants, purchasing materials) and attending research conferences.
Q. How will I be given access to the discretionary funding?
You will be given access through your supervisor’s departmental account.
Q. How should I record my receipts and expenses and make a claim?
Please see the instructions and procedures, and follow the instructions on ‘how to make a claim’
https://www.finance.admin.cam.ac.uk/expense-forms
If you are making a claim in two different currencies, you should enter the currency that the expenditure is in and support that with a bank statement which would normally show any currency translations. If this cannot be supported by a statement, this should not be translated by you as the University system rate will be used.
Q. I have funding from my Research Council (MRC, ESRC, BBSRC) for consumables. How do I claim these expenses?
You need to make a claim in the usual way (see Q5). Please ensure that your claim form clearly states that you wish to claim expenses from you Research Council’s consumables funding. You should have a code for this – if you do not have this code, please contact Accounts on accounts@psychol.cam.ac.uk in relation to your RTSG fund.
Q. Who in the Department is supposed to sign my claim form?
Your claim form will need to be signed by your supervisor and sent to the Accounts team on accounts@psychol.cam.ac.uk.
Q. What is the annual deadline for submitting expense claims for the discretionary funding?
The financial year is from 1 August through to 31 July. An initial claim deadline of 31 May allows expenses to be accounted for in the correct financial year. Claims can still be made after 31 May but this may result in the expense being accounted for as part of the following year’s funding. Expenses will be taken from the time the activity is carried out; therefore, an activity that happens in August would be accounted for as part of the following year’s funding. In the case of MPhil students, a claim after 31 May is still permitted, and the Accounts team will reconcile these claims with your supervisor’s departmental account.
Q. Can I carry over unspent discretionary funding into the next academic year?
It is not possible to carry over unspent funding. However, once you have successfully applied to access the funding in your first year, you do not need reapply, and the following year’s funding will be made accessible as soon as possible from July
Q. I am planning to travel, should I use a specific travel company?
Key Travel is the University’s Preferred Supplier for travel and so you should always refer to them when booking travel in the first instance http://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/offices/purchasing/travel/
If travel cannot be booked with Key Travel, you should contact Accounts for advice before proceeding with any other alternative. If any travel is personally arranged and paid for without seeking advice then it is your sole responsibility if anything goes wrong, as it is outside the parameters of the University and the ‘duty of care’ that is attached to University suppliers.
Q. I have heard that there is Fieldwork funding available in the Department, how does this work?
Fieldwork funding is only available if you are a PhD student. Each year during Michaelmas term PhD students are asked to make an application for fieldwork funding that is going to take place during the next academic year. Applicants are notified of the outcome of their funding application by the end of December.
Q. What is the deadline for expense claims for Fieldwork funding?
All expenditure must be used before the end of the financial year (31 July).
Q. Who can I contact if I have any queries?
Please contact the Accounts Department – accounts@psychol.cam.ac.uk
