In response to the COVID-19 pandemic and following a consultation with our community we are very pleased to announce that we are extending the purpose of our Grants for Carers and Accessibility Grants schemes. See here for details.
Caring responsibilities are wide and varied, but we know they can sometimes be hard to balance alongside your career.
With our Grants for Carers, you can apply for up to £1,200 per year to help you attend a chemistry-related meeting, conference or workshop or professional development event. This money would be used to cover any additional costs you incur, paying for care that you usually provide.
"It is very important to have a balance between work and personal life – to increase and maintain the performance in my position and provide good care to my family. If there is anyone who needs extra support and wants to apply for this fund I would encourage them to do so.
Personally, being able to attend the workshop was very beneficial. In particular, I was able to create a network with researchers from other countries for further scientific communication."
- Anna Mpanyakavili, Sokoine University of Agriculture - Tanzania
I know it will help take away their stress and help their career progression.
Each application will be assessed on its own merits
Every carer's responsibilities are different, so we are committed to assessing each application individually. However, by way of guidance, the kinds of expenses that we will consider funding include:
- extra home help or nursing care for a dependant whilst you will not be present
- additional medical/respite care for a dependant whilst you will not be present
- travel expenses to allow a relative to accompany you in order to care for your dependants whilst you attend a meeting or event
- extended hours with a care worker/childminder/play scheme to allow you to return home later than normal.
In light of COVID-19 and changing working patterns, we now also accept applications to cover the cost of care while you attend an online event, professional development or teaching responsibility. These costs may include:
- extra equipment you need to work from home and/or home-school those you care for (maximum £500 per year*)
- professional caring costs (maximum £500 per year*)
Please note that, where appropriate, it is expected that you have already approached your employer where appropriate.
*This is due to a high number of applications and to ensure fair distribution of funding. If you require further financial support and you are an RSC member, please consider applying to the Chemists' Community Fund.
"My husband is also a chemist – we were really excited about the Grants for Carers scheme because we work in similar fields, so we often want to attend the same meetings, but we also have a young daughter.
That can make it quite complicated because we either have to limit going to things that could be important for our research, how many events we go to, or sometimes we have to choose one or the other of us to go."
- Dr Kim Jelfs, Computational Chemist - Imperial College London
We were both speaking at that meeting, in fact on the same morning, so the only way for us both to go was if we could take our daughter with us.
You are eligible to apply if:
- you are a chemist
- you will incur additional caring expenses while attending a chemistry-related meeting, conference, workshop or professional development event
- you will use these funds to cover the cost of care that you usually provide
- you are based in the UK or Ireland or if not you are a current RSC member (normally with three consecutive years of membership) or a former RSC member (with at least ten previous years of RSC membership)
We have designed the process to be straightforward and will ask you to provide brief details of the event and a description of how the grant will be used. We aim to respond to you within six weeks of your application.
Please note that as part of the application process we may ask you for additional information, in order to ensure that your application is eligible and appropriate for the remit of this grant.
How can I apply?
To apply please complete the Grants for Carers application form.
Multiple applications, up to the maximum value of £1,200 per year, will be considered. All applications will be individually assessed at our discretion.
Please note that, if you receive a grant, you will need to complete a Grants for Carers return form and submit receipts after your attendance at the event.
"It becomes very expensive to bring my children to the conference venue, but it is very difficult to leave them behind. It’s not only so you can bring them to the conference – you can use this grant to pay someone to take care of your kids back in your home country or home town. So you can use it anyway during the conference for your kids."
- Dr Robina Begum, Assistant Professor - University of the Punjab, Lahore
Addressing inequality
These grants have been introduced following the Royal Society of Chemistry’s Breaking the barriers report which found that 78% of chemists working in UK academia felt that managing parenting and/or caring responsibilities had an impact on women’s retention and progression. However, applications to this fund are not limited to female scientists – anyone with caring responsibilities is welcome to apply.
These grants have been supported by the Royal Society of Chemistry’s Chemists’ Community Fund.
NB: Applicants outside the UK or Ireland must be (current or former) RSC members. Find out more about eligibility
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