society for the social history of medicine

SSHM 2026 Bursary Scheme

The Society for the Social History of Medicine awards financial assistance for eligible members [postgraduate student, early career, precariously employed or unwaged] towards the costs of attending the SSHM biennial conference. Successful applicants may be required to provide a report on the event after its completion, to be published in the SSHM Gazette or as a blog on the Society’s website. Applicants should note that:

• Bursaries are intended for SSHM members presenting at the conference who have no access to grant or institutional support to cover the full cost of attendance.
• Bursaries are awarded based on financial need and are limited in number and cannot be retrospectively awarded. If the number of eligible and complete applications exceeds the number of bursaries available, they will be awarded in order of receipt. Any remaining applications will be added to a waiting list, should an award not be taken up. The waiting list will also be administered according to the order of applications received. Students’ applications will be considered complete upon receipt of the supervisor’s statement of support.
• As a charity subject to fraud regulations, the Society cannot offer full reimbursement of expenses until after the conference has taken place and the bursary recipient’s attendance confirmed.
• Confirmation of visa status is not required to apply.
• The maximum bursary award is £360 for travel within the UK and from the Republic of Ireland; £500 for international travel from Europe; and £750 for overseas travel (e.g. Canada to UK).

The application form will be available to download from Monday 23 March at 2:00pm (UK time)

Your application will require:

• your SSHM membership number (beginning 00008), for checking on the 2026 members database.
• a detailed breakdown of funds requested (see below for eligible expenses).
• if a postgraduate student your application must be accompanied by a statement of support from your supervisor to confirm that funding for conference expenses is not otherwise available (it is advisable to sort this in advance to save any delays to your application) *statements of support via institutional email are acceptable.
• non-student applicants will need to supply a supporting statement offering details of current position (if applicable), year of completion of study and financial need. Please specify if you have access to limited funding for conference-related expenses or if there is no access at all.

Eligible expenses are registration fee (in-person or online); accommodation*; travel; conference events; but not subsistence. *Please note that if requesting support for accommodation, awardees are expected to register for the accommodation package arranged by conference organizers (if available). Leeds University are offering inexpensive campus accommodation which guarantees proximity to the conference therefore applicants will need to justify their choice of alternative accommodation.

Membership Lottery Draw

10 free memberships are available The draw is open to all biennial conference bursary applicants regardless of whether their bursary application is successful. The Society will reimburse one year’s membership fee in addition to any bursary awarded. To enter just tick the box in the application form.