Grants

See below for guidelines and applications forms for:

  • Grants to Institutions, Schools, Summer Schools and Individuals
  • Grants to Postgraduates and Young Scholars (The Dover Fund)
  • Regional Conference Grants
  • Hardship and Access Grants
  • Undergraduate Essay Prize

Grants to Institutions, Schools, Summer Schools and Individuals

The Hellenic Society Council considers applications from institutions, schools and individuals for small grants to assist projects and events in the field of Hellenic Studies (2023 Awards, 2022 Awards, 2021 Awards, 2020 Awards, 2019 Awards, 2018 Awards, 2017 Awards; 2016 Awards; 2015 Awards list; 2014 Awards list).

Recipients of Institutional, Individual and Schools Grants are asked to send a report or blog for the website and social media channels. Recent reports can be found here.

Application deadlines: 1st May and 1st October.

Please note that grant applications take one month to process. The Council will not approve awards for events or activities that have already taken place. Applications for the 1 May deadline are considered in June, and should relate to events/activities from 1 July onwards. Applications for the October deadline are considered in November, and should relate to event/activities from 1 January onwards.

Grants are usually in the range of £100-£500, but larger amounts are sometimes awarded.

Institutions

  • student bursary schemes for academic conferences
  • productions of Greek drama
  • Hellenic events
  • student fieldwork bursaries

Institution Grants Application Form

Schools

  • the development of new courses in Greek
  • books & other teaching materials
  • Classics days or conferences
  • Greek plays by schools

SPHS School Grants application form

Guidelines are available here: SPHS School Grants FAQs
Download the report form here: SPHS School Grants report form

Individuals

  • projects
  • events
  • conferences
  • fieldwork

The scheme is open to all members, but priority will be given to postgraduates, early career scholars and those on short-term (one or two year) contracts.
N.B. applicants must be members of the Hellenic Society.

Individual Grants Application Form

Summer Schools

The Hellenic Society Council considers applications from Summer Schools for grants to support bursary schemes.

Summer School Grants Application Form

Grants to Postgraduates and Young Scholars

The Dover Fund, 1st May deadline.

The Dover Fund, set up in honour of Sir Kenneth Dover, is administered by the Hellenic Society. Its purposes are:

  • to further the study of the history of the Greek language in any period from the Bronze Age to the 15th century AD, and
  • to further the edition and exegesis of Greek texts, including papyri and inscriptions, from any period within those same limits.

Grants from this Fund will be made for such purposes as visits to libraries, museums and sites. For instance, support may be offered to graduate students or young scholars outside the London area to enable them to take advantage of the excellent facilities of the Joint Library of the Hellenic and Roman Societies and the Institute of Classical Studies Library. The purpose of such support is to assist with travel, accommodation and subsistence costs, normally for up to a week. The sums awarded will vary according to the needs of the applicant, but most grants will be in the range £50 – £400; larger grants may be made from time to time at the discretion of the committee.

Applications must be received by May 1st of the year in which a grant is sought.

Dover Fund Application Form
Dover Fund Referee Form

SPHS Regional Conference, 1st November deadline.

The Hellenic Society Council will consider applications from Universities for a grant to assist an academic event in the field of Hellenic Studies. The grant is up to £2,000 for an academic conference on a research topic concerning any aspect of Hellenic Studies. Preference will be given to conferences taking place in the UK, but outside of London, with a strong public outreach element involving local schools and/or the community.

Regional Conference Application Form

Hardship and Access Grants

The Hellenic Society may be able to offer small hardship and access grants for those who, due to unexpected hardship, need a small amount of financial aid to help complete a programme of study or to help overcome issues of access: for example, attendance at a summer school when a language or other skill (such as epigraphy, numismatics or papyrology etc) is required to begin or access further study.

All those working on an area of Hellenic Studies are eligible to apply.

Small grants normally of up to £100, to be used for academic or professional purposes, or living expenses, will be made to:

a) those who have held a temporary post in a UK HEI or completed a PhD in the last 12 months and who are not currently employed, or whose employment will come to an end during the current academic year;
b) university students at any level;
c) school students studying for GCSE or A Level or equivalent qualifications.

Applicants should email secretary@hellenicsociety.org.uk with the following details (not more than 300 words in total):

a) a brief account of the circumstances necessitating the grant: this should be a particular financial need, or unforeseen hardship;
b) the purpose for which the money is to be used;
c) the precise sum needed.

In the case of school students, applications may be submitted by a teacher

Please include the name of a referee who will be able to confirm your personal circumstances and/or verify the need to attend a course / training etc. This could be your line-manager; thesis supervisor; tutor; or teacher. Applicants are responsible for contacting their referee and the reference should arrive before the relevant closing date. References are not required for school students when the teacher has submitted the application; if the application is sent directly by the student, please ask your teacher to supply a reference.

Only one grant per academic year (1 October-30 September) will be considered per applicant.

Applications should be received by the last day of every month. They will be dealt with as soon as possible in the month after they are received and monies disbursed by the 15th day of that month.

Please email Dr Fiona Haarer (Executive Secretary: secretary@hellenicsociety.org.uk) with any queries.

Undergraduate Essay Competition 2025

Calling all aspiring writers! After the success of our first four undergraduate essay competitions, the Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies is delighted to launch its fifth iteration. Whether you’re a budding historian, philosopher, or philologist, a film critic or book reviewer, or just an enthusiast for all things Greek, we want to hear from you! Reviews of books, films, plays or exhibitions are welcome, as is travel writing, or your own research. Send us a 1,200 word essay on a topic related to the Greek world for a chance to win some great prizes.

The winning entry will be published in ARGO, the Society’s general-audience magazine, and the winning author will be paid a £100 author’s fee. The winner and two runners up will receive free membership of the Society for one year.

Guidelines

  • You should write a 1,200 word essay about any aspect of the Greek world – literature, history, philosophy, ancient, or modern – it’s up to you! Providing your piece discusses the culture of Greece (whether ancient, Byzantine, or modern), you are eligible to enter.
  • Alongside discussions of academic subjects, you are welcome to submit things like book reviews, exhibition reviews, film reviews, theatre reviews, game reviews, and travel writing. Fresh discussions of academic topics were particularly successful last year.
  • You should write for a general audience who are not specialists in the subject you are writing about. This means that you should avoid things like technical terminology or detailed discussion of what other scholars have said about a particular point. If you want to check that your writing is accessible, ask a friend who doesn’t know anything about Greece to read your article before you submit it.
  • You should not submit work which you have submitted, or are planning to submit, as an assessed part of your degree.
  • Any extracts or quotations from other works should be correctly attributed

Prizes

  • The winning entrant will see their piece published in ARGO, the society’s magazine, for which they will be paid an author’s fee of £100. They will also receive free membership of the Society for the year 2025. Membership includes a free copy of the The Journal of Hellenic Studies.
  • Two runners up will receive free membership of the Society for the year 2025.

 Eligibility

  • The competition is open to anybody who has studied for an undergraduate degree in the calendar year 2024. Thus, it is open to:
    • Anybody currently studying for an undergraduate degree
    • Anybody who completed an undergraduate degree in 2024
    • Anybody who begins studying an undergraduate degree before the competition deadline
  • The competition is open to students at any institution, in any country, and in any discipline

 Submission of Entries

  • Entries should be sent to Dr Jan Haywood, the Membership Secretary, at jlth1@leicester.ac.uk
  • Entries should be submitted as either a Word document or a PDF
  • You should include the name of an academic at your institution who will be able to confirm that you are, or were, an undergraduate student in 2024.

Closing Date

  • The closing date for entries is 23.59 on the 8 January 2025
  • Winners will be announced in mid-January 2024.

Please note that the Society will not be able to provide feedback on submissions.

Enquiries

Please send any enquiries to the membership secretary, Dr Jan Haywood (jlth1@leicester.ac.uk). Please allow five working days for a response.

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