Information for scholarship award holders
If you have been awarded a scholarship, you may have queries about your payments, additional funding available, or what happens if you need to take a leave of absence.
This page has information on:
Terms and conditions of your scholarship
Payment - providing your bank details, payment dates and maintenance rates
Scholarship confirmation letters
Other opportunities for scholarship holders
Additional financial support - conference and fieldwork expenses
Terms and conditions
Follow the links below for information relating to your type of scholarship, including funder expectations, how to apply for any additional funding allowances, and what to do if you need to take a leave of absence.
Payment of scholarships
If your scholarship includes a maintenance allowance this will be paid directly in to your bank account in quarterly instalments, in advance. All scholarship maintenance payments are exempt from income tax and National Insurance contributions.
You will be asked to provde your bank details at the pre-registration stage. If you have not provided your bank details at this stage, or need to update them, you can do so by logging into Muse with your Muse User ID and password, go to the ‘Quick Links’ Section and choose ‘University Payments Bank Details’ and securely enter your bank details. Please do not email your bank details to us.
Payment dates for 2012-13
| Maintenance for months: | Payments Direct into Bank Account: |
|---|---|
| October/November/December | 1 October 2012 (or as soon as possible after registration) |
| January/February/March | 21 December 2012 |
| April/May/June | 29 March 2013 |
| July/August/September | 28 June 2013 |
The above dates apply to those students who register or re-register for 1 October 2012. If you are a cross-sessional student and have a different start of registration date your payment dates may differ.
Please note that in order to receive payment you will be required to have full registration status on the payment date. It takes 3 working days for money to go directly into your bank account. If you do not receive a payment when you expect to, or the amount differs from what you expect to receive, please contact paymentstostudents@sheffield.ac.uk including your registration number with your query.
Payment rates
The Research Councils UK minimum doctoral stipend has, in recent years, been increased annually in line with the GDP deflator. From October 2011 however, and in line with the Government freeze on public sector pay, the Research Councils have agreed to freeze the national minimum doctoral stipend at the 2010-11 level (i.e. £13,590). University Scholarships have accordingly also been frozen at the 2010-11 level for 2011-12 and 2012-13.
The Research Councils stipend level will rise to £13,726 for 2013-14 and all University Scholarships paid at this standard rate will rise to the same level.
Scholarship confirmation letters
If you require a letter confirming your scholarship (e.g. for a Visa extension or proof of income) please email pgr-scholarships@sheffield.ac.uk with your name, registration number and type of scholarship. We will normally be able to produce the letter within a few days and can post it to you or let you know when it is ready for collection.
Other opportunities for scholarship holders
Research Councils and other organisations offer internship schemes and additional training opportunities for scholarship holders:
- Joint EPSRC and POST Postgraduate initiative 2013 - secondment opportunity to the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST) open to EPSRC-funded PhD students. See the EPSRC website for details.
- BBSRC Policy Placements - provides a three-month placement opportunity for BBSRC-funded PhD students to gain experience of working in science policy. See the BBSRC website for details.
- ESRC Student Internship Scheme - provides current ESRC-funded PhD students with the opportunity to spend up to six months in a non-academic organisation within the public, civil society (voluntary) or private sector. See the ESRC website for details.
- ESRC funded students should also check the Social Sciences DTC website for details of training opportunities, events and conferences.
- Strategic skills awards - BBSRC and MRC are collaborating with the British Pharmacological Society (BPS) to provide additional funding to BBSRC- and MRC-funded studentships to support research training in integrative mammalian biology. See the BBSRC website for details.
- 'Enterprisers' programme for BBSRC, EPSRC and MRC funded students - see their website for details.
- Vitae GRADschools - free to AHRC, BBSRC, EPSRC, ESRC, MRC, NERC and STFC funded students, see their website for details.
Additional financial support
If you have expenses for fieldwork or attending a conference:
- check the terms of your scholarship to see if you can claim this from your RTSG or apply for additional funding
- you may be able to claim from the Learned Societies Fund
- non-funded Social Sciences students can apply to the Social Sciences Faculty Research Support Scheme
- some external funding bodies offer support for fieldwork, conferences and other expenses
- your academic department may have knowledge of or access to other funding sources.
Who to contact
Questions about scholarships? Please email the Scholarships Team at pgr-scholarships@sheffield.ac.uk. Please include your registration number and type of scholarship in your query so we can find your scholarship record.
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