Community News Archive
£1000 a year for physics students
Institute of Physics
22 September 2005
A new scheme offering students up to £1000 a year to study physics was opened today (Thursday 22 September) by the Institute of Physics to try and encourage more students to take physics and help those concerned about top-up fees and the cost of studying at university.
The scheme is open to students who are thinking about university applications now and who will start their degrees in 2006.
The Institute of Physics 'Undergraduate Bursaries’ are grants of up to £1000 per annum for undergraduates starting an accredited physics course in the UK from September 2006. Universities taking part in the scheme have been given a quota of bursaries to distribute to students about to embark on a degree. Each university will use its own detailed criteria to allocate the funds, with the emphasis on encouraging students who do not traditionally choose physics or those who might be deterred for financial reasons.
Dr Robert Kirby-Harris, chief executive of the Institute said: “We want to stimulate demand for physics and to encourage young people across the UK to study physics no matter what their financial or social background.”
The scheme is widely supported by the physics community. Professor Richard Abram, head of physics at Durham University said: “Anything that encourages people to come and study physics, particularly if they have difficult financial circumstances is a good thing. The Institute has shown the way here being the first professional institution to do this and it will clearly benefit the physics community as a whole”.
Durham, one of the universities taking part in the scheme, plans to concentrate on students in financial need but also intends to use the bursaries to encourage more local students to come to the university because the north-east has one of the lowest participation rates for higher education in the UK.
Sir David Wallace, Vice-Chancellor of Loughborough University and immediate past-president of the Institute, initiated the scheme in 2004. Speaking yesterday, he said: “I’m absolutely delighted at the commitment which the Institute of Physics is making to these bursaries. I hope that they will make a real difference both to students themselves, and, through them, to the well-being of physics and society in the future.”
Professor Peter Main, director of education and science at the Institute of Physics said: “This scheme signals the Institute’s commitment to support students who are thinking of studying physics but who might be put off by top-up fees and the cost of studying for a degree. We wanted to ensure that the introduction of top-up fees doesn’t deter anyone who wants to study physics from doing so. The bursary scheme will benefit about ten percent of undergraduates in physics and doesn’t exclude students from applying for the bursaries being offered by other organizations.”
300 bursaries a year will be available and students on a bachelor’s degree will receive £3000 over the duration of their course; those studying for an integrated master’s will receive £4000.
Applying for an Undergraduate Bursary
Participating universities are allocating bursaries on behalf of the Institute. To apply, or for more information about the criteria at a specific university, please contact the relevant university department directly. For a full list of universities and which departments are taking part in the scheme visit the website below.
For more information please visit:
Undergraduate Bursaries Homepage
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