Stephen Copley Research Awards

The Stephen Copley Research Awards

Postgraduate researchers and early career scholars working in Romantic Studies are invited to apply for a Stephen Copley Research Award.  The BARS Executive Committee has established the bursaries in order to help fund research expenses up to a maximum of £500.  Expenses may include but are not limited to the cost of travel and accommodation related to archival or research-focused trips, as well as photocopying, scanning, and childcare.  Copley Awards cannot be used to cover presenting at or attending a conference.  A postgraduate must be enrolled on a postgraduate research programme in the UK; an early career scholar is defined as someone who holds a PhD (from the UK) but has not held a permanent academic post for more than three years by the application deadline.  Application for the awards is competitive, and cannot be made retrospectively.

Applicants must be members of BARS for their applications to be considered. Awards should normally be taken up within a year.  The names of recipients will be announced on the BARS website and social media, and successful applicants will be asked to submit a short report to the BARS Executive Committee within four weeks of the completion of the research trip and to acknowledge BARS in their doctoral thesis and/or any publication.  Reports may also be published on the BARS Blog where this is appropriate.  Previous winners or applicants are encouraged to apply again. Everything else being equal, the panel will prioritise applicants who have not recently been awarded BARS funding. Please send the following information in support of your application (up to two pages of A4 maximum in word.doc format):


  • Your full name and institutional affiliation (if any).
  • The working title and a short abstract or summary of your PhD or current project.
  • A description of the research to be undertaken for which you need support.  Please be as detailed and specific as possible regarding your proposed research.  For example, if you intend to consult archival material, identify (where possible) the specific items/collections and state why consulting these is necessary for your project.
  • An estimated costing for the proposed research trip.  Costs should clearly relate to the proposed activities.  If driving is essential, please use UK Government rates to estimate mileage.
  • Estimated dates between which the research will be undertaken.
  • Details of current or recent funding (AHRC award, &c), if applicable.
  • The name of one supervisor/referee (with email address) to whom application can be made for a supporting reference on your behalf.
Applications and queries should be directed to the bursaries officer, Dr Gerard Lee McKeever (gerard.mckeever@ed.ac.uk) at the University of Edinburgh. There are two rounds of the scheme in each year.  The deadlines are June 1st and December 1st.