Overview

CRASSH’s funding offers a great opportunity to hold an interdisciplinary event with scholars and the wider public to engage in meaningful academic debate and encourage future research and collaborations.

– Sabina Maslova, Convenor, House of Cards

The funding round is open for events to be held between September 2024 and April 2025. Applications close at 09:00 on 8 April 2024.

Are you looking to hold an event or run an initiative between September 2024 and April 2025?

CRASSH would like to invite you to apply for support and be part of our rich and diverse events and initiatives programme.

CRASSH offers support to postgraduate students, postdocs, and academic staff employed by the University of Cambridge or one of its Colleges to run a wide range of events, workshops, and creative initiatives. We invite you to apply for funding and logistical support for any activity that will foster the exchange of ideas across disciplines and cultures, forge new collaborations between researchers and other participants, bring academic research to wider publics, or explore the connections between research and artistic practice.

Creative initiatives should be connected in some way to Cambridge (the city or the University) or to produce material that can be hosted on CRASSH’s website for public viewing or interaction. You may apply for support to create a film, an exhibition, a performance, a guided walk, activities that make use of the University’s collections, a hands-on workshop, or anything else that you think will fulfil the objectives above. Please note any in person element should happen in Cambridge.

Funding of up to £1000 is available for one-day events, £2000 for two-day events, and £1000 for other kinds of initiative. In-kind logistical support will be provided in the form of assistance with the planning and running of events, administration, and publicity. Events and initiatives will be selected for support by a cross-School panel. Successful proposals will form part of CRASSH’s rich and diverse programme for 2024-2025.

Answers to a number of frequently asked questions can be found in our FAQ blog post. If you have any other questions about the selection process or anything else related to the workshops, please email CRASSH’s Events Manager.

CRASSH can also support events and initiatives that do not require financial support. If you would like to propose an idea, please contact events@crassh.cam.ac.uk.

It’s great to get funding from CRASSH, but probably the most invaluable part of the CRASSH funding is the administrative support. The Conference and Events Manager is fabulous: she’s professional, experienced, calm and effective. She takes care of all the practical matters and leaves the organiser(s) free to focus on the intellectual questions they wish to explore.

– Sian Lazar, Convenor, Politics and Ethics of Platform Labour: Learning from Lived Experiences

Financial support

Funding for events and initiatives

Funding is available for postgraduate students, postdocs, and academic staff employed by the University of Cambridge or one of its Colleges to run events and initiatives with CRASSH.

Financial support*

Up to £1000 is available for one-day events, £2000 for two-day events, and £1000 for other kinds of initiative. For events, this funding may be used to contribute to the costs of speaker travel, hospitality, and accommodation. Full administrative and in-kind logistical support (event planning, management and promotion) will also be provided. It is also possible to apply for administrative and logistical support without funding.

*Convenors may need to find additional funding to cover some costs to ensure that the maximum financial contribution from CRASSH is not exceeded. A list of other potential funding sources can be found under the ‘Additional Funding’ tab.

It is CRASSH’s policy not to pay for publications.

Applications for financial support always automatically include administrative and logistical assistance.
Please note that funds cannot be carried over to the next academic year and any unspent sums below the maximum agreed will revert to the CRASSH events and initiatives support fund.
For events, please take a look at our sample budget. A breakdown of costs is required for applications for other initiatives.

The next funding round is open for events to be held between September 2024 and April 2025. Applications close at 9.00am on 8 April 2024.

Logistical support

Logistical support includes:

  • venue: CRASSH is based in the Alison Richard Building, and we can try to secure seminar rooms in the ARB*. We also support events that will take place at other venues within Cambridge.
  • budget: devising a budget, setting up conference account to manage income and expenditure, online delegate registration/payment, producing final accounts
  • CRASSH webpage: creating event pages that includes registration, event summary, calls for papers, posters, event programme, links, and convenor information. Additional content can also be housed on CRASSH’s site (this can be discussed with the Events Manager)
  • publicity: poster design, publicity via email, social media, and the CRASSH blog
  • arrangements for speakers: assisting convenors with booking accommodation (usually at a college); reimbursing agreed speakers’ travel costs in line with the University’s travel expenses policy
  • catering: arranging lunches and refreshments; assisting with college dinner / restaurant bookings
  • support on the day, including registration of participants and production of an online event booklet
  • AV assistance: arrangements can be made for AV support; the cost of AV support will be dependent on the specific requirements of the event. Post-event, CRASSH is able to organise the editing (there is a cost for this) and promote any event recordings
  • logistical support for other initiatives, as appropriate.

*Please note we cannot guarantee rooms in the ARB.

Event dates

We generally aim to hold in-person events out of term as space is more available, but not guaranteed. It can also be more problematic to secure venues and speaker accommodation during term-time when students are in residence.

Please also note that activities in the Alison Richard Building held on Fridays and Saturdays during term (subject to room availability), mean that catering costs may be higher. We suggest that you avoid degree and other ceremony dates, e.g., graduation weekend in June or alumni weekend in September.
Please list a range of preferred dates (in order of desirability) or tell us if dates are fixed. We cannot guarantee that preferred dates will be offered.

We are able to host online events during and out of term time.

Please note that CRASSH’s policy is not to hold any events on Sundays.

The next funding round is open for events to be held between September 2024 and April 2025. Applications close at 9.00am on 8 April 2024.

Selection criteria

Selection criteria

Funding is available for postgraduate students, postdocs, and academic staff employed by the University of Cambridge or one of its Colleges to run events and initiatives with CRASSH.

Events and initiatives will be selected by a panel comprising the Director and Administrator of CRASSH, academic staff from the School of Arts and Humanities and the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, and the Events Manager. The Events Manager will co-ordinate the selection process and inform the applicants of the result within two weeks of the application deadline.

As well as academic excellence and originality, the selection panel will be looking for proposals that meet one or more of the following criteria:

  • tackle a question from a range of disciplinary perspectives
  • facilitate cross-regional or cross-cultural dialogues
  • explore innovative forms of communication and engagement instead of (or in addition to) the more traditional presentation of papers
  • seek out new publics
  • involve collaborations with participants or partners from contexts beyond academia (museums, schools, governmental organisations, charities, businesses, etc.)
  • take a creative approach to the expected outputs or outcomes of an event or initiative

We also strongly encourage convenors to think about the diversity and sustainability of their event or initiative.

Please note:

  • it is CRASSH’s policy not to pay for publications
  • budgets should be carefully justified: it may be an advantage to apply for less than the maximum amount, unless there is a clear need for higher funding
  • applications for financial support will always come with in-kind (logistical) support
  • any unspent sums will revert to the CRASSH events and initiatives fund.

The next funding round is open for events to be held between September 2024 and April 2025. Applications close at 9.00am on 8 April 2024.

CENTRE FOR RESEARCH IN THE ARTS, SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES

Tel: +44 1223 766886
Email enquiries@crassh.cam.ac.uk