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Isaac Newton Trust

 

Application deadlines per year:

  • 31 January

  • 16 May

All applications must be sent to the INT Administrators by 5pm. 

Please mention in the subject line of the email
that it is an application for the WPIF. 

Please assemble your application and submit
as a single concatenated PDF

How to Apply

Your application needs to include a Cover Sheet and Proposal. 

Use font size 11 or larger for all text in your application. The font must be Calibri, Aptos, or Arial. All A4 margins should be set at a minimum of 1 inch. Please follow the page limits as we will ask you to shorten any applications that are too long.

Who Can Apply?

The Widening Participation & Induction Fund is open to all Cambridge Colleges.

Colleges are invited to apply for funding for specific projects, for up to £50,000 per academic year per College.  

Colleges may submit applications:

  • Individually
  • Together with other Colleges
  • Jointly with other institutions, such as University departments or voluntary sector organisations.

Note that grants are awarded and disbursed to Colleges, but this may include costs associated with participation in University-wide programmes. 

Grants are intended to cover activities scheduled to be completed within 12 months of the funding being awarded; if this causes any difficulty with scheduling your activity, please consult the INT. Colleges may apply again in subsequent funding rounds for the support of the same, or different, activities in following years, up to £50k in any given academic year.

All funding decisions related to WPIF applications will be made by a panel chaired by a Trustee of the INT.

Priority will be given to well-costed proposals that are innovative and specifically address educational disadvantages that have been exacerbated by the COVID pandemic, but other proposals may also be considered for funding. The Fund should be used to replace funds already committed by a College to an activity; such applications may be given a low priority.

For further information on the WPIF, please contact the INT Director 

Proposal

The Proposal should normally be no more than two sides of A4 and include the following:

  • A full description of the project including a timetable
  • Budget with full costs showing which costs you would like the WPIF to cover
  • Information about what your project seeks to change and why you seek to do this
  • How you expect to realize change through the project
  • How you will measure and report on the difference made by the project
  • What difference would indicate a positive change

Please set out the extent to which you have consulted with subject specialists in the relevant Department or Faculty, where appropriate.

If you are making an application which develops a project already funded by INT’s WPIF,  please detail how the new project has developed and builds on the previous project.

Project Costs

Summary of Eligible Costs

up to £50,000 in any given academic year

WPIF grants can be used for:

  • Partial salary costs
  • Student travel costs to outreach events held at Colleges
  • The creation of lasting resources, such as websites or equipment
  • Direct student contact activities, such as residential events
  • Projects for primary school pupils

WPIF grants cannot be used for:

  • Additional bursaries or scholarships already covered under the Cambridge Bursary Scheme
  • Buying out the time of existing Admissions/Schools' Liaison staff
  • Core University business
  • Teaching for the Foundation Year, which is already fully funded
  • Hiring College rooms

Salary Costs

You can claim for new posts dedicated to the project and for back-filling of posts where existing postholders are undertaking new duties for the project on a temporary basis.  

You cannot claim costs for staff whose jobs already include the duties described in the application or where no new staff costs are involved. 

We expect the salary for supporting staff to be in line with an appropriate existing pay scale. We appreciate that this may vary between Colleges, so please explain why the one you have selected is appropriate for the project.

Student Travel Costs

We feel it is important to diversify the field of attendees at events, to attract more students from regions currently under-represented at Cambridge and to enable those students with serious financial concerns to benefit from the opportunities offered by Cambridge Colleges. 

We have therefore agreed to extend the scope of the WPIF to encourage colleges to apply for support for student travel to outreach events held by colleges which may or may not take place on University Open Days. Where funds are limited, priority may be given to projects with the intention of encouraging applicants who might not otherwise consider Cambridge; this would include providing support to the most disadvantaged students from College Link Areas.

Applications can be made solely for support with travel costs, or can be included as a part of the costs for a WPIF project. The travel costs do need to be for events managed by Cambridge Colleges and may or may not take place on University Open Days.

Event & Hospitality Costs

Costs for participant hospitality, such as residential rooms, formal halls, and other meals, should be at internal student or outreach rates, not at commercial or peak season rates.

We expect costs for teaching space should be covered by the host College. If you anticitpate this not being possible, please full justify this in your proposal or contact the INT Director to discuss the situation.

INT Funding Rounds

For Research Grants:

2024/2025 application deadlines - please see for individual funding calls

Michaelmas: 27 September 2024

Lent: 10 January 2025

Easter: 25 April 2025

 

For Early Career Fellows:

Leverhulme Early Career Fellowships 2025

Check with Host Cambridge Department for application deadline: this will be no later than 31 October 2024

 

For Colleges:

Junior Research Fellowship Programme

Next application deadline: 09 May 2025

Widening Participation & Induction Fund

Next application deadline: 31 January 2025 

Academic Career Development Fellowships

Colleges and Departments interested in making partnerships should contact the Director at the earliest opportunity. 
Partnerships should be agreed as soon as possible in Lent Term and no later than the end of 21 February 2025

Trustees' Meeting Dates

Thursday 21 November 2024

Thursday 20 March 2025

Thursday 10 July 2025

Information about INT