Fieldwork and research funding

MPhil students can claim up to £200 from the Centre of African Studies towards their dissertation research costs, including travel expenses. Claims should be made promptly, and should normally be submitted when you have spent the total amount that you wish to claim (maximum £200). It is essential that you submit receipts as proof of expenses incurred; without them, your claim will not be accepted. Thus be sure to retain receipts from any forms of public transport that you use when conducting your research work. Claim forms may be downloaded from https://www.finance.admin.cam.ac.uk/expense-forms.

The UAC Travel Fund is also available, to award travel grants to Cambridge graduate students (not only MPhil in African Studies students) who wish to conduct fieldwork and research in Africa. Be aware that UAC travel grants generally only make a contribution to the expenses incurred, as funds are not sufficient to award full research grants. The deadline for submitting applications is early March.

In general, if you intend conducting fieldwork or research in Africa you will need to supplement your costs using your own private funds and/or by securing funding from other sources, such as from your College. A useful source of information is Cambridge funding search, which is an online directory of funds administered by the University of Cambridge. Be sure to search funding for ‘an existing course of study’ not ‘a new course of study’.

Please note that if you travel to Africa as part of your dissertation research, it is only permissible for you to be away during the Christmas and/or Easter vacations, and you must complete your fieldwork by the beginning of Easter term at the latest.

There are strict departmental procedures that must be observed when applying to undertake fieldwork during your MPhil course. Please click here for further details.