BSLS members are invited to send in proposals to host the second BSLS one-day symposium in November or December 2015.
At the AGM, the BSLS membership voted again to support, in addition to the annual conference, a one-day symposium in November or December 2015 on any theme related to the recent conference or the research interests of the BSLS. A budget of £500 will be made available to members to fund the symposium.
The first Winter Symposium was held last year on the subject of Teaching Literature and Science, at the University of Westminster. Details can still be found on the BSLS website.
Proposals should include:
* a statement of up to 500 words setting out the rationale for the event and how it interprets the over-arching theme
* contact details for the organiser(s)
* the venue(s) and date of the symposium
* a provisional programme including provisional or confirmed speakers and panels
* a clear budget explaining how the grant will be spent.
A small registration fee may be set for the symposium if required; if it is, this should be justified in the proposal. The BSLS will be named as the official sponsor of the event, but it will not take on further financial liability beyond the grant itself.
Applicants must be members of the BSLS both when the application is made and when the symposium is held. International members of the BSLS are welcome to apply for the awards. Applications should be emailed as a Word document to the Chair of the BSLS, Martin Willis (M.Willis@westminster.ac.uk), and copied to the Secretary Peter Middleton (p.middleton@soton.ac.uk) by Friday 17th July 2014. Applications will be considered by the BSLS Executive Committee. The award will be made to the application which the Committee judges as best fulfilling the overall aims of the BSLS and serving its members and the academic community as a whole. Successful applicants will be informed as soon as possible after the deadline.
Queries about the scheme may be directed to Martin Willis, but no correspondence will be entered into about the decisions of the Committee. Serving members of the BSLS Executive Committee are not eligible to apply for the grant. They may be included in the proposal for the symposium as participants, but they may not receive any of the award money either as costs or fees.