Need funding for a project? Consider the LUF!
Have you ever heard of the Leiden University Fund? And did you know that, as a student of Leiden University you can apply for one of their grants to carry out research or career-boosting projects?
Need funding? Consider the LUF!
For most of my RMA programme I was not aware that such a thing existed, until one of my supervisors told me about it after I got accepted to present a paper based on the results of my RMA thesis research at the prestigious annual conference of the Latin American Studies Association happening later this month in Boston, Massachusetts, and started to look for ways to fund my travel across the Atlantic.
Last week, after preparing and submitting my application, I was awarded a LUF International Study Fund grant that, together with funding from the Archon Research School of Archaeology that I secured earlier this year, will allow me to travel to Boston and present my research. So I thought I would write this post to let more students know about this great possibility.
The LUF
The Leiden University Fund (LUF) is an independent foundation that provides grants to finance projects conducted by Leiden University researchers. Bachelor and masters students can apply for grants to support activities that enhance their studies, such as research, internships or studies abroad. There is also a grant to fund activities that could clearly benefit a wider group of students – such as a symposium, study trip or show. You can find out more about what they do on their webpage.
The grant I applied to was part of the LUF International Study Fund (LISF), destined for student projects abroad and includes subsidies for research, education, internships, attendance to a conference or preparing a PhD proposal. Each category has some specific requirements, but in general the application consists of the following:
- Letter of motivation highlighting how the project embeds in your programme
- Brief description of the project
- Budget
- Your CV
- Your up to date grade list
- Letter of recommendation by your LU supervisor
You can see the detailed description of the requirements in this document.
Throughout the year there are a number of meetings when the LISF committee make their decisions. The submission deadlines depend on those meetings, so make sure to take them into account if you are planning to submit an application.
The selection process has two rounds: first, your application is reviewed and if it is considered as good enough, you pass to the second round, which is an interview. Fortunately you don’t have to wait much for the results, as they let you know if you’ve received the grant or not only a couple of days after the interview.
So now you know, if you have a project or innovative idea and need funding to carry it out the Leiden University Fund is the best place to seek support from! Let me know in the comments if you have any more questions about my experience.
About Daniel Salinas
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