Bursaries are meant to cover living expenses while students are working on Cambridge Mathematics Placements projects or on research within CMS. These are bursary grants, not stipends, and are intended to complement other sources of support.
We encourage all students to seek out all possible means of funding their project. Evidence that students have tried hard to find at least partial funding counts positively in the bursary fund committee’s evaluation.
Students applying for Research in CMS projects are eligible if they have just completed Part IB or Part II. Priority may be given to students who have just completed Part II and who are intending to continue their mathematical studies, either in Part III or elsewhere.
Students applying for Cambridge Mathematics Placements projects (including those working in CMS whose work is linked with research done in other departments or with industrial partners) are eligible if they have just completed Part IB, Part II, or Part III. Priority may be given to Part III students.
Students working in industry are generally not eligible for bursary grants. If there are reasons why a bursary grant should be considered please discuss this with the Summer Research Programme Director, Jake Rasmussen.
Students should write a short statement. You might tell us what attracted you to this project, what skills and interests you have that might be relevant to the work you will be doing. We will be reading your statement to gauge your enthusiasm for the project, and the amount of thought and effort you have already invested in it.
The value of bursary grants is capped at a maximum of £250 per week for a maximum of eight weeks. The intention is that bursary grants should supplement other sources of funds, such as College grants, subsidised accommodation or contributions from host departments.
We ask you to declare the cost of your room rent. We have found this varies considerably. Room rents under £120 per week are deemed to be subsidised, and any amounts under that value will be deducted from the maximum of £250 p/w. The benefit to you in declaring this is that your thriftiness counts in your favour in considering your application.
The deadline for bursary applications for Research in the CMS and the first round application deadline for CMP projects is 15 March 2019. First round decisions will be made by late April. Either funding will be confirmed, or your application has been reviewed positively, but funds need still to be found, or we have decided against funding your project. Funds are often found, as other projects win awards from other sources of funding (Colleges, LMS, EPSRC, supervisor’s research grants).
As CMP projects are often advertised late, some funds will be reserved for a second round. Bursary applications for the final round should be made by 7 May 2019, with decisions announced by the beginning of June.
As a rough guide, in coming to funding decisions, the allocations committee take the following into consideration (in no particular order).
How enthusiastic is the host supervisor to have the student? Your letter of support should indicate this.
How much effort has the student invested in arranging the project? For example, evidence of endeavour in finding college bursaries and subsidised accommodation count positively, as does evidence in the student’s statement that she/he has already done some reading on the topic.
Some preference is given to students in Part III.
Is the research environment likely to provide good support for a mathematician working in a foreign discipline? Will the student be supported by a host partner? by regular group meetings?
Does the project appear to use a mathematician’s talents well?
Can the host department contribute to the student’s support?
We wish to develop new links with labs we have not worked with.
We wish to encourage students whose mathematical interests are not normally considered applicable (pure subjects and theoretical physics).
We will generally consider one student per CMP academic host for funding each year, and will ask you to find complementary funds if you wish to have more.
Some preference is given to Part II students.
We hope to fund at least one student per supervisor each year, and will consider a maximum of two projects per supervisor.
The application form for a bursary in 2019 is available here.