Pushing Boundaries bursary policy
Everything you need to know about bursaries to support attendance at the Pushing Boundaries conference
We are committed to ensuring that Pushing Boundaries is accessible to as many people as possible from across research and innovation. Thanks to funding from UKRI, the event will be free to attend. However, we recognise that participating in an in-person event can incur further expenses for attendees – and not everyone will have access to funding to cover these costs. We are therefore pleased to be able to offer a limited number of bursaries to support the attendance of up to 20 community members, freelancers and representatives of community-based organisations. We recognise that unfortunately this may not be able to support everyone who would benefit from a bursary. Our criteria and process for allocation of bursaries is outlined below.
What support is available?
What support is available?
We are able to provide up to 20 bursaries, worth up to £250 per person*, to cover reasonable expenses for travel, subsistence and accessibility. This could be used to cover any of the following:
- Economy class travel to and from London**
- Reasonable travel on public transport within London
- Up to two nights’ accommodation in London, as needed on Monday 9 June and/or Tuesday 10 June 2025 (hotels should be similar in price to a ‘Travelodge’ nearby the venue)
- Dinner (up to £20) in London, as needed on Monday 9 June and/or Tuesday 10 June 2025 – morning pastries, a light lunch, and refreshments will be provided at the event
- Childcare/caring cover
- Lost earnings (where your employer will not pay for your time and where attendance does not support other freelance activities)
- Access and support costs
It will be your responsibility to arrange the above and keep receipts, in order to submit a claim form to The Young Foundation (further instructions to be provided upon confirmation of bursary allocation).
*If your reasonable expenses are likely to exceed £250, please discuss this with us by emailing pushingboundaries@youngfoundation.org, and we will endeavour to accommodate.
**Your starting destination and ending destination do not need to be the same – for example, we are aware that some people may want to travel onwards to other sector events, such as the Centre for Social Justice and Community Action conference in Durham on Wednesday 11 June 2025.
Who is eligible?
There are two groups who are eligible for bursaries. Priority will be given to group A.
Group A: Community members who do not have a salaried role in research and innovation (though may be paid for contributions). To be eligible:
- You must be, or have recently been, involved in co-leading, co-producing, or participating in a research project or initiative, AND;
- Any research project(s) you are, or have been, involved in are unable to provide funding for you to attend this event.
Group B: Professionals in research and innovation who are EITHER:
- freelance/unsalaried and not involved in a project which can fund your time and expenses to attend the event; OR
- salaried but work for a non-profit community-based organisation (e.g. charity or community interest company) which is unable to access funding to support your travel and subsistence expenses.
What is the process for allocation of bursaries?
Please fill out this short form explaining how you meet the eligibility criteria (see above). To be considered for a bursary, you must register before 8am on Thursday 1 May 2025. Priority will be given to group A (above) with the order of selection randomly generated across both groups. We’ll let you know whether or not we are able to offer a bursary by Tuesday 6 May.
If you have been allocated a bursary, you will need to reply to our email within one week (by Tuesday 13 May) to confirm your bursary place. If you do not confirm in this window, your bursary may be offered to someone else. When you confirm, we will provide information about how to claim the bursary from The Young Foundation.
If you have not been allocated a bursary, we will operate a waiting list based on the randomly generated order across group A and then group B. It will be your choice whether or not you wish to cancel your registration at any point.