Each year, the Alumni Fund – a financial support fund built by generous donations from alumni and friends of the University – provides up to £50,000 in grants to staff and students looking to pursue a wide range of projects.
Previous ventures supported by Alumni Fund grants have included extracurricular activities and research projects – all of which successfully demonstrated their benefit to the University, local, national or international community.
The funding applicants receive can be used to pay for a wide variety of project components, ranging from new equipment to research support.
2024/25 applications
Applications for the 2024/25 collection of grants are now open, with a closing date of Friday 17 January 2025 at 11.59pm (GMT). Successful applicants will be informed by the end of March 2025 and grants will be awarded in early April 2025.
Current staff and students can find full details of application criteria and how to apply.
Gemma Hill, Head of Integrated Fundraising at the University, is responsible for the smooth running of the Alumni Fund and processing the grant applications, which are carefully considered by the Alumni Fund Panel.
"We [the Advancement Office] are looking forward to receiving the 2024/25 grant applications and learning about the exciting projects that our staff and students have on the horizon," says Gemma. "The Alumni Fund Panel, who select each year's awardees, are on the look out for projects that have a positive impact on the world – whether that be on a local or global scale, or directly on our University community."
This year, all applicants will be required to attend an information session with Gemma. Sessions can be booked via this Calendly link.
Previous Alumni Fund grant projects
Translation of selected press releases
Chris Melvin, Head of News and Media at the University, received a £1,000 grant from the Alumni Fund in March 2024 to pay translation students to translate a collection of Bath's research press materials into different languages – most successfully, Mandarin. This work has the potential to increase the reach of Bath’s news and research excellence, helping to raise the profile of the University internationally and acting as a great recruitment tool. The work has also given extracurricular experience to students studying translation at Bath.
“The alumni fund was a great way for us to get some money to pilot a new idea to reach international audiences with our news," says Chris. "The application process was simple and the decision came in quickly. I‘d encourage any colleagues or students with ideas to consider putting a bid in.”
Specialised equipment and lab infrastructure
Sanjay Nagarajan from the Department of Chemical Engineering, was awarded £5,000 in March 2023 to buy specialised equipment and strengthen lab infrastructure before kickstarting their research. His group aims to minimise waste from industries while maximising its value. When food waste is utilised as a resource, it is not landfilled but turned into a valuable asset. This is in line with the UK Net Zero Strategy as well as zero landfill policies.
Research study fees
£5,000 was awarded to the Department of Economics to fund a study to investigate the role of early childhood development on social mobility in the UK. With the grant from the Alumni Fund, they were able to include important educational data in their study, without which, their study would have been far less impactful. The study aims to investigate how parental choices during infancy influence educational outcomes. While still in the early stages of analysis, the researchers anticipate publishable results soon, with potential implications for policy development.