Applications are invited for BSLS small grants of up to £400 to promote the study of literature and science. We are open to all sorts of proposals other than personal conference expenses. Examples of activities for which the awards might be used are expenses for a visiting speaker, a seminar series or a symposium. Applications for support to stage special BSLS panels at appropriate conferences (other than the BSLS 2016 conference) will be considered.
Recent events supported by the scheme include EXEWHIRR, a public-engagement event on ‘The Human-Technology Relationship through the Ages’ at the Bike Shed in Exeter; a symposium on ‘Biomedical Science and the Maternal Body’ at the University of Southampton organised by the Postgraduate Contemporary Women’s Writing Network; and a postgraduate conference on ‘Abnormality and the Abnormal in the 19th Century’ organised by the Centre for Nineteenth-Century Studies at Durham University.
Applicants should be current members of BSLS and should apply by making a case, in up to 300 words, for how the award will contribute to the development of literature and science. A brief outline of the costs of the project should be appended. Where funding is sought for BSLS panels a clear indication of the scope of the panel, and of its contribution to the understanding of literature and science, should be included. Recipients of small grants are asked to acknowledge BSLS sponsorship appropriately in publicity for events and to provide a brief report on events for the BSLS newsletter.
The application should be e-mailed, as a Word attachment, to the BSLS Secretary, Peter Middleton, p.middleton@soton.ac.uk by Friday September 11th, 2015. Please put ‘BSLS small grant’ in the subject heading of your email. Applications will be considered by the BSLS Executive Committee later in September. Applicants may apply for any amount up to £400; in some instances a proportion of the amount applied for may be awarded. Successful applicants will be informed by the end of September.
Queries about the scheme should be directed to Peter Middleton. International members of BSLS are welcome to apply for the awards, but should note that they will be distributed in the form of bank cheques made out in pounds sterling. Serving members of the BSLS Executive Committee are not eligible to apply for the awards. We cannot enter into correspondence about the decisions of the Committee.
