CoSS Employability Grant
Each year the College of Social Sciences Employability Officer supports individual undergraduate or postgraduate taught students and groups to partake in activities that will directly impact their employability through the award of small grants. Typically, these awards are to a maximum of £200. Often they are used by indviduals, groups and societies to take part in business and enterprise competitions, professional development courses or a range of other activities and opportunities that will help them to improve their employability skills and graduate attributes.
Please note that retrospective applications are not allowed.
In previous years, the College Employability Awards have been used for activities such as:
- Enactus (formerly Students in Free Enterprise) attendance at National Finals
- Student group attendance at International PeakTime Business Competition
- Economic and Social History Society trip to Edinburgh Archives
View examples of previous applications here.
Bids will be considered by the College Employability Officer on application. There are no fixed deadlines for applications but grant funds are limited and when exhausted no more funds will be available until the following academic year.
Preference will be given to projects which have an impact on a number of people. Applications will be assessed on how the outcome would affect the personal development of the group members, and the likely extent and quality of impact on other students so these should be clearly addressed in your application.
Restrictions
Due to limits of funding grants will not be made towards attendance at conferences associated with a student's field of study. We will also usually not fund the purchase of equipment and grants can normally not be made retrospectively. Employability awards will take a minimum of three weeks to be reviewed and awarded and so applications must be made well before funds are required.
Applying
Interested students are required to submit an Employability Grant application detailing how the money will be spent and how the proposed project will enhance their employability skills. At the end of the project you should complete the 'Post-activity Interview' section of the application form. This content will be a featured on our webpages alongside your photograph and allows other students to read about your experiences and consider whether they might also get involved in similar types of activity. Please contact Dickon Copsey for an application form.
Receiving the Award
If your application is accepted, to qualify for the grant you must have submitted a completed with both the 'Application' and 'Post-activity Interview' sections completed. You should also have attached relevant photographs for the web.
We will also require itemised receipts for all expenditure.
By far the easiest way for us to transfer funds to successful applicants is for you to pay for the agreed expenditure - eg. travel, fees etc.. - up front and then to retrospectively claim under our Student Expenses system. Details are included on the application form. If you require up front costs to be met we typically require at least four weeks to process these claims.
If you have any queries about the College of Social Sciences Employability Awards please contact the College of Social Sciences Employability Officer.