Pembroke College Cambridge

Postgraduate Specific Support

The College is committed, within the limits of its available funding, to assist its postgraduate students; it is important that you are aware of all sources of financial support available to you, and how to apply for them.  Nearly all the awards mentioned below are provided out of the College’s Restricted Funds.  This is money donated by benefactors, either in the past or on an ongoing basis.  Their generosity allows us to offer these resources.

If you have any questions about any of the sources of support it describes, or your eligibility for them, please consult with your Tutor, the Tutorial Bursar or College Registrar (b.coombs@pem.cam.ac.uk).

In this section, we usually use the term PhD as a shorthand term to cover all graduate students whose course is greater than 1 year in length (excluding those doing the diploma of architecture course).  The term MPhil covers all other graduate students.  We appreciate that some of you are studying for other degrees in these categories.

Research & Conference Expenses (PhD & Clinical Students)

The College is often able to assist PhD, clinical medical students and clinical veterinary students with essential expenses incurred in the course of their work.  Such grants may, for example, be made to help with the cost of visits to libraries, archives or other collections, or for travel outside Cambridge for other essential fieldwork or medical electives.

In certain subjects it is necessary for a PhD candidate to undertake a prolonged period of research a long way from Cambridge.  In these situations it is normal for the student’s everyday living costs to be supported by his/her main funding body.  However the College will offer a grant towards specific and exceptional costs of the trip which are not met from other sources.  These include airfares (subject to the price being reasonable), internal travel whilst abroad, visa costs and medical expenses.

Support is also available for attendance at conferences and workshops, in the UK or abroad, where these are judged to be of prime importance to a student’s work.  A strong preference is given to those who are presenting papers or posters.

In addition to applying to the College for support applicants are expected to seek funding for these purposes from their funding body, their Faculty or Department, or from University Funds.  Most funding bodies will support essential research trips themselves.  Applications must include full details of what other funding has been applied for or received.  You should use the general College Grant form to apply for this type of support.

In order to ensure a fair distribution of the resources available, the following norms apply:

Grants may cover the total cost of research or conference trip (Food costs are excluded) No student will receive more than £1,750 over the course of their graduate studies If a grant is approved, payment will be made only on production of receipts for the items against which the grant was awarded.  If the total receipted expenditure is significantly less than the sum originally estimated, the grant will normally be reduced accordingly. 

Equipment costs are not normally supported.  You may wish to check with your Department or Faculty; they are frequently able to lend equipment.

Grants for these purposes are not normally made to meet expenses incurred after the submission of the thesis.  Grants are also not normally awarded after three years’ research have been completed, since it is assumed that you will have completed all research and be writing up.  If you are required to resubmit your thesis, the College may be able to help with essential research (but not conference) costs.

Applications should be made before expenses are incurred.

Students who are awarded a grant will be expected to present a poster at the Graduate poster display held annually in June.

PhD thesis printing and binding

The College allows two copies to be printed free of charge using College printers, but this must be arranged in advance with the IT Department (help@pem.cam.ac.uk).

If necessary, the College will pay up to £90 towards the cost binding two copies of PhD theses.  Please submit receipts to Dr Coombs (there is no application form).  However, the College expects students to make prior application to Departments and Faculties for support for this where it is available. 

Support is also available for binding MSc and MLitt dissertations, but not MPhil theses.

Research expenses: one-year & taught courses

Students on one year courses are eligible to apply for research-related or conference grants, if they are required to carry out research towards a dissertation/project (where no other funds are available) or to attend conferences to present a poster or give an oral presentation.  The amount a student can apply for is more limited as it is generally assumed in the University that most of the costs of such courses are predictable and should be factored into funding arrangements from the outset.  It is also assumed that additional expenses should be minimal because the courses are largely taught rather than purely research-based.

Moreover, MPhil students who definitely intend to continue to the PhD may be eligible for support for research or training which is essential to the PhD, and which is undertaken either during the MPhil course or in the summer vacation after it.  Such students must indicate on their application (if necessary on a separate sheet) how the project in question relates to their PhD.  The Supervisor must affirm that the project is necessary for the PhD.  The College may sometimes offer a small grant to the MPhil student on the understanding that the grant will be increased should the student be successful in returning to continue to the PhD.

Students who wish to apply for such support should do so on the standard College Grant form.  The standard norms for research grants for PhD students apply, except that the maximum level of grant will be £500.

Financial Assistance

The Financial Undertaking

One of the conditions of your place at the Pembroke and the University is that you provide the Student Registry (aka Board of Graduate Studies) with an undertaking that you have sufficient financial resources to cover your costs (fees and maintenance) for the whole of your course and that if you do not have sufficient financial support then you should not give a guarantee or start their course.  For example, they are expected to honour any promise to take out a loan made as part of the guarantee.

Students are also warned, before admission that the pound's exchange rate can show considerable fluctuation and that, although we are sympathetic to such problems, this is not a valid reason for not honouring the guarantee given and the College is not able to consider financial assistance applications in such circumstances.  Students are advised that it may be wise to use a sterling bank account to secure funds for the entire period of their course.

The College’s policy towards graduate financial assistance needs to be understood in this context.

Financial Assistance policy: general

The College recognises that funding circumstances can change for reasons that are genuinely outside students’ control, and tries to be sympathetic in such cases.  Pembroke’s financial assistance funding is designed to be flexible and sensitive to individual circumstances.  All Pembroke graduate students in genuine need are eligible for College financial assistance awards.

However, any graduate applying for financial assistance support must show both that the financial arrangements made before admission were robust and that subsequent problems have been truly unpredictable.

Students who find themselves in financial difficulties should approach their Tutor in the first instance and then, if they decide to apply, should complete the graduate financial assistance form in consultation with him/her.  Be prepared to provide full details.

Students on one-year courses are eligible for financial assistance on the same terms as other graduate students.  That is, they will need to demonstrate that they have suffered a material and unforeseeable change in your financial circumstances since the date of admission.

Financial Assistance: terms and conditions:

Awards are considered on a case-by-case basis.  However, in estimating costs and completing the form, it is important to note that any financial assistancet given by College will normally assume that students will take College accommodation if it is available (please consult Dr Coombs about availability before making alternative plans).  If a student is offered College accommodation and declines it, the College will not pay extra subsidy for higher rental charges incurred elsewhere. Non-rent expenditure should not significantly exceed £180 a week.

As a condition of support, we may ask graduates to supply a fresh financial guarantee, particularly if a severe problem has arisen early in the course.  We will not normally give any financial assistance support unless we think that the student in question has a realistic chance of securing funding for the whole of the rest of the course.

Awards may be either interest-free loans or grants, at the College’s discretion.  Any support is likely to be limited and cannot extend to full replacement of guaranteed funds.  Financial Assistance grants are normally in the region of £1,000 - £1,500, the maximum financial assistance grant is £2,000.  A loan is more likely to be in the £1,000 - £1,500 bracket.

It is a condition of the award of a loan that the student:
•    acknowledges in writing the terms of the loan 
•    commits to a schedule of repayment (interest will be charged if the schedule is not adhered to)
•    understands that s/he will not be allowed to graduate until it is repaid in its entirety.

In general, College financial assistance awards are awarded as leverage.  In other words, we use them strategically, to encourage other funding bodies to give support to the same application.  We very rarely give an award without at least matching funding from elsewhere.

Financial assistance is given most frequently to deserving fourth-year PhD students (see below).  Occasionally we are asked to contribute to support given by the Cambridge Trusts to students in their second and third years.

Fourth-year PhD students

Students who have completed three years (9 terms) of research towards a PhD are automatically exempt from University fees (and the SFC).  The College, wherever possible, will offer fourth-years accommodation, which can be terminated on giving 4 weeks’ notice.  This is the standard way in which the College assists its fourth-year students.

It should also be noted that several UK Research Councils and overseas funding bodies have in recent years increased significantly the maintenance stipend that they pay to PhD students in years 1-3.  Part of the reason is to encourage students to begin to save modestly against the possibility of having to survive without funding for part of the fourth year.

Only in exceptional cases, where submission is delayed owing to unforeseen circumstances, and where there is genuine need, is the College able to make financial assistance loans or grants, on the leverage principle. 

It is therefore essential to apply for support elsewhere as well.  You should strongly consider applying to the following: to your funding body for extra help, to the Board of Graduate Studies financial assistant schemes.  The Board of Graduate Studies administers a scheme of Research Awards aimed at helping students experiencing financial difficulties as a result of unforeseen changes in their financial circumstances.  Further information and an application form can be found on its website.

PhD students in the sciences should also note the possibility of applying for support to the Lundgren Fund and the Cambridge Philosophical Society.  Its website gives details of the application procedure for its grants for this and other purposes.  Please note that applicants to the CPS must have been members of the Society for at least a year and therefore it is essential to explore this possibility well before making an application.  There may be other appropriate Funds among those advertised in the Reporter.

Sometimes these other funds require a simultaneous application to College for support; please discuss the procedure with your Tutor and the Tutorial Bursar or College Registrar before specifying the sums that you require from each fund.  When making an application to other funding bodies, especially to the better-endowed funds, it is important to apply for the maximum amount.  The College is not normally able to provide more than 25-33% of the total funding requirement of fourth-year students.

College support for student-led workshops, seminars and conferences held in Cambridge

There are number of occasions when students may have the opportunity to organise a workshop, seminar or small conference in Cambridge, either in collaboration with their Research Supervisor or with other students in their research group or department.  Whilst the College is not able to offer direct funding for such events it can offer help by offering the use of a function room free of charge, subject to availability (please contact bookings@pem.cam.ac.uk  to check availability).  (For example, the Nihon room, the Thomas Gray room, the Old Library or a room on the Mill Lane site).  We are also willing to provide pre-dinner drinks for small groups of workshop/seminar/conference participants or wine with dinner or host guest speakers (in College accommodation) free of charge.  Much depends on the scale of the venture, of course, but this is to signal an aim to offer support.  The extent of support given would follow consideration of a detailed application by Pembroke’s Graduate Tutors, who meet fortnightly during term; you should discuss any application you intend to make with your Graduate Tutor in the first instance. The Tutorial Office are able to advise on the level of recent awards made. 

Grants Related to Academic Work

If you have particularly pressing needs for IT or similar equipment, you should approach your Department in the first instance.  In a small number of cases, where university and Departmental assistance is demonstrably inappropriate, the College might be willing to consider a modest loan to help you buy such equipment, but this would always be subject to individual circumstance and assessed by the Graduate Tutors and Tutorial Bursar.

Projects which fall outside the definition of essential research expenses but are still of benefit to your academic work may be eligible for a College grant.  You should apply on the standard College grant application form, giving full details of the project, costs and all other funding.