Funding and Financial Support

Current PGR students in the Business School (although not students in continuation status, interruption or who have submitted their thesis) have access to a research support allowance. This is capped at £1,200 for the duration of your degree and it is your responsibility as a student to ensure that the funding is spread throughout the degree and you monitor your spending and claims. 

You are permitted to use your research allowance for expenses such as attending conferences, travel to libraries and other archives, conference registration fees, library fees or other archive access, photocopying, accommodation and subsistence (within standard limits). All expenses must adhere to the University Expenses Policy. 

Please note however that you are not permitted to reclaim the costs of equipment or goods used as research or teaching resources, including IT equipment and software, books and stationery; nor are you permitted to claim for travel to and from the University if you are based away from our campuses and are visiting for supervisions, research seminars or any other activity normally required of our research students. 

Students studying at the Penryn Campus, however, may claim limited funds for travel expenses incurred in travelling to the Streatham Campus in order to attend seminars held as part of the College Research Training programme. These expenses will be funded from a separate budget and will not be taken from your personal research allowance. 

To access your personal research allowance you must first discuss the usage of the funds with your supervisor, and request their support in writing. Once you have their written support, you must incur the expense and then submit a claim for reimbursement. Expense claims should be fully supported by itemised receipts; failure to provide full receipts will result in the claim being reduced accordingly. Credit or debit card receipts alone are not acceptable, nor are unclear scans or photocopies of receipts. If you have not been able to retain your ticket (e.g. rail tickets retained at station barriers), then an email copy of your confirmation of payment will be accepted as a proof of purchase. 

Claims must be received and processed within 3 months of the activity taking place; however at year end, 31^st July, claims from the previous academic year must be received before August 5^th to be included in the previous financial year. Claims received after this date will not be paid. Claims will be allocated to the personal research allowance in the financial year that the activity takes place. 

Please note that this allowance is not available to students on continuation status or interruption, or who have submitted their thesis for examination.

T1 Finance System

All claims must be submitted using the university T1 finance system. At registration, all new students are given access to T1. You will need to follow the guidance for making your claim and you will need to tick ‘No’ to the question ‘Is this expense related to a project’ in all sections of your claim. 

Claims should be made after the event.  The Business School PGR Student Allowance code is 013170 and you must include your name in the claim so that the funding can be allocated to your allowance.

Unidentifiable claims will be rejected. 

Additional research support allowance

The College is often able to make available an additional research allowance for PGR students to use towards prestigious conference attendance and/or research dissemination or for data collection i(NOT for travel associated with fieldwork or additional research training).  Applications for this additional funding should be pre-approved by your supervisor and Discipline PGR Director. 

To apply for the funding, you must submit a formal request using the PGR Additional Research Allowance Request. A ‘business case’ must be made, clearly stating details of the activity and provide a supporting statement from your supervisor clarifying the importance of this activity for your research. This is a competitive process and funds are limited so we expect a detailed proposal including a breakdown of anticipated costs (maximum 1 side of A4).  Each case will be considered by a Panel within the College and there is no guarantee that all requests will be granted; or that the full amount requested may be granted. 

There is a limited pot of money which is ring-fenced to support the running of experiments for data collection. This funding is in addition to your Research Support Allowance, but care should be taken to ensure that costs are carefully considered and as efficient as possible.

Students must submit a formal request for additional funding through the PGR Additional Research Allowance Request, and return to the PGR Support Team once ocmplete. A case should be made outlining the experiment, the amount requested, and email confirmation from your supervisor supporting the request. Requests for economics experiment funding must be received by the PGR Support Office no less than one month prior to the start of the experiments, as approval must be sought from the discipline and college DPGR, and arrangements made for an advance payment.  

The fund is limited, and we cannot guarantee that the amount requested will be the amount awarded.

We recognise that there may be times when students face financial hardship, so there is a limited fund for UEBS PGR students who are facing financial hardship. The Postgraduate Research Student Hardship Scheme is used to make payments to relieve financial hardship of eligible students undertaking an MPhil or PhD programme.

A student is regarded as suffering financial hardship if they are in such serious financial difficulties that access to that course, or continued attendance on that course, may be at risk.

There is no automatic entitlement to funding. Applying for financial help does not guarantee that funding can be granted, as funds are limited. The maximum will only be paid in exceptional circumstances.

Eligibility

The scheme is available to any registered MPhil and PhD students. Exceptions may be considered if the student has not fully registered due to a tuition fee debt.

Any current PGR student in the University of Exeter Business School may apply, regardless of mode of study (full time, part time, continuation or submission) or whether they are campus or distance based.

Funding will not cover any extension period beyond the maximum period of study allowed under the university regulations.

Students enrolled on the MRes element of a 1+3 or 2+3 model are not eligible for PGR Hardship funding. Students experiencing financial hardship who are enrolled on an MRes should discuss additional sources of funding with the Education Support teams.

Making an application

You should complete this form fully and return it to the PGR Support Team (uebs-pgradmin@exeter.ac.uk). Remember to attach the appropriate evidence to verify your claim; failure to do so will delay the application process.

Application form

You can download a copy of the PGR Financial Hardship Request 2021-2. Once complete, return to the PGR Support Team for consideration. 

The University, in partnership with its alumni community, has created the Success for All Fund to help you if you are experiencing unexpected financial challenges affecting your ability to study.

You may be facing financial hardship; be struggling to pay for IT or a learning disability assessment; or have bills to pay while waiting for your first grant payment to arrive.

All registered postgraduate University of Exeter students are eligible to apply, irrespective of fee-status. The majority of funds are means-tested and you will be asked to provide evidence in support of your application. Please note, funding will not be given to pay your tuition fees. 

Guild Advice Unit and the SU

The Guild Advice Unit offers help and support if you are in financial hardship. 

Exeter Guild (Exeter)

The SU (Cornwall)