The Visitor Studies Group

Annual Professional Development Bursary

The VSG annual bursary provides financial assistance to members to pursue professional development opportunities that are in keeping with the mission and goals of the Visitor Studies Group. £500 is offered per calendar year to cover travel, conference registration fees or other related expenses. This sum can be offered to one applicant or distributed at the discretion of the Selection Board. All bursaries are paid to the applicant in pounds Stirling; the recipient(s) will be expected to provide evidence of the bursary being spent as intended through production of receipts. Successful recipients will be expected to write an article for the VSG web site, give a presentation on their bursary-funded experience at the next VSG AGM, as well as sit on the Selection Board for the following year's bursary.

Eligibility

To be eligible for a bursary, applicants must have been a member of VSG for at least 12 months prior to the date of application and not be a current committee member. The closing date for applications is March 31st each year. Applicants will be expected to produce a letter of reference from a senior professional in their sector in support of their application.

Selection Criteria

Applications will be judged by the following criteria:

• Potential of the applicant to use the bursary to further VSG's objectives to promote Visitor Studies throughout the museum, gallery and heritage sector (UK and elsewhere)
• Preference will be given to those who are not entirely dependent on VSG funding, and have 'match funding' from other sources, such as an employer or other financial award.
• The selection will be conducted by the Selection Board, which will consist of one VSG committee member, one VSG member (not from committee), and the previous year's bursary recipient(s). Members of the Selection Board are ineligible to apply for the bursary; their decision will be final.
• The Selection Board reserve the right to not award a bursary in any year if they do not feel the applications are of sufficient merit. However the Selection Board will provide feedback and support for applications which demonstrate potential so applicants can revise their application to an appropriate quality.
• Members who have received the bursary in the past are not excluded from applying, but applicants should be aware that priority will be given to members who have not successfully applied for the bursary before.

If you would like to apply for the bursary, please download the bursary application below and return it along with a reference to:

Mary Phelps
VSG Administration
22 Church Avenue
London SW14 8NN 

A sample report from a previous bursary winner is available to read and download. Further bursary reports are available to fully subscribed VSG members in the members section of this website.