Workshops and Talks on Alternative Postgraduate Funding
We’ve delivered more than 500 training workshops and talks (in person and online) on alternative postgraduate funding since 2009, working with 50 universities and several Doctoral Training Partnerships (DTPs). They are invariably excellently attended and receive top feedback.
Our workshops are delivered by one of our three experienced trainers, who between them won over 70 charity awards as postgraduate students. We thus speak from experience, not theory. Meet our team.
We offer four different types of workshops and talks depending on the audience. Workshops usually last between two and three hours. Our most popular is the Postgraduate Funding Workshop, often delivered as part of researcher development training for postgraduate research (PGR) students. We also offer staff training, a Widening Participation – Postgraduate Progression Workshop, and short talks for open days, events and roadshows, including large audiences. Read more about our four types of workshop below.
Researcher development
Postgraduate Funding Workshop
Often delivered for PGRs as part of researcher development training
Intended audience: All postgraduate students, although usually postgraduate research students.
Audience size: Up to 30 in person and 100 online.
Duration: 2–3 hours.
Our most popular workshop, ‘Postgraduate Funding: Considering the Alternatives’, explores alternative methods of funding postgraduate study: fees, maintenance, research, travel, conferences and final-year PhD writing-up. Often held as part of skills development, it closely supports the Vitae Researcher Development Framework domain C3: finances, funding and resources.
What we’ll cover
- How to identify and understand alternative funding sources, such as charities, trusts and crowdfunding.
- How to find funding using online and printed resources.
- How to prepare strong grant applications to alternative funding sources.
The workshop is taught through a mixture of presentations, live demonstrations of online funding databases, group discussions and case studies of personal statements. Read the expanded workshop description.
We also offer a webinar version of this workshop with some format changes. Please see our webinars page for details.
Staff development
Staff Training Workshop
Intended audience: University staff interested in understanding alternative postgraduate funding.
Audience size: Up to 30 in person and 100 online.
Duration: 1–2 hours.
This workshop helps staff expand their knowledge of alternative postgraduate funding. Participants often work in Graduate Schools, Research Offices, Student Support, Registry, Admissions and Careers.
It introduces alternative ways current and prospective students can fund postgraduate study through charities, trusts and other mechanisms, such as crowdfunding.
What we’ll cover
- The main differences between charities and the mainstream research funders you may be more familiar with.
- How students can craft funding strategies depending on whether they are fully funded, partially funded or entirely self-funded.
- How students can find alternative funding using online and printed resources.
- How students can prepare strong grant applications to alternative bodies, and the points they need to emphasise.
UNDERGRADUATE AND Widening participation
Postgraduate Progression Workshop
Intended audience: Final-year undergraduates considering a master’s degree, and master’s students considering a PhD, particularly those from backgrounds underrepresented in postgraduate study.
Audience size: Up to 30 in person and 100 online.
Duration: 1.5–3 hours.
This workshop is aimed at final-year undergraduates who want to explore how to fund a master’s degree, and master’s students interested in funding a PhD. This workshop particualrly supports widening participation objectives, by making funding information more accessible and helping students develop the knowledge and confidence to plan their next steps.
No prior knowledge of postgraduate funding is necessary. We introduce both mainstream and alternative sources, including postgraduate loans, research council funding, university scholarships, charities and trusts. By the end of the workshop, students have a much stronger grasp of the full range of postgraduate funding options to help them make their next move.
What we’ll cover
- Understanding the funding landscape for master’s and PhD study, including government sources, postgraduate loans, research council funding and alternative sources.
- Finding funding using online and printed resources, including charities and trusts whose eligibility criteria may relate to a student’s background or circumstances.
- Building a practical funding plan, identifying potential gaps and exploring how different sources of support might fit together.
- Preparing strong applications to mainstream and alternative funders, and communicating personal circumstances, financial need and academic ambitions effectively.
The workshop is taught through a mixture of presentations, live demonstrations of online funding databases, group discussions and case studies of personal statements. It offers a practical contribution to widening participation and postgraduate progression programmes, helping students make informed decisions about further study.
Open days & events
Short Talks and Lectures for Open Days and Events
Intended audience: Prospective postgraduates (master’s or PhD) or current students.
Audience size: No size limit.
Duration: 30–45 minutes for the talk, plus Q&A.
A short introduction to all types of postgraduate funding, both mainstream and alternative. No prior knowledge of postgraduate funding is necessary, and the audience can be of any size, making it ideal for open days. We are happy for the talk to be filmed and made available after the event.
What we’ll cover
- Postgraduate funding through government sources, departmental scholarships and alternative funding sources. We are also happy to mention your own funding competitions.
- How to identify alternative funding sources, such as charities, trusts, crowdfunding and learned societies.
- How to find funding using online and printed resources.
- Tips on how to prepare strong grant applications to charities.
You can see a video of a recent open day talk we gave below:
Prices, Questions and Discussions
Please email us at enquiries@gradfunding.co.uk. We can give you a price quotation for a workshop, short talk or lecture. If you have an alternative proposal, please get in touch to discuss your plans.