Postgraduate students and staff at The University of York. If staff are applying then their bid should have been drawn up in consultation with postgraduate students.

Come and talk to us and we can give you advice. We can tell you if your idea is a sort of project that the Community Fund can support and make suggestions on ways it could be implemented. Email communications@yorkgsa.org or events@yorkgsa.org for more details

Each year there is £4000 allocated for the Community fund, and we support small and larger projects.

There is no lower limit on the amount that can be bid for, but the bid for a bigger project should not exceed £1k.

The Community Fund is for projects that:

• Need start- up money
• Are sustainable
• Are innovative and new
• Demonstrate the need or desire within the postgraduate community for such a project
• Are created for the benefit of postgraduate students
• Encourage integration between undergraduate and postgraduate students
• Encourage collaboration between postgraduates and staff
• Encourage integration between postgraduates and the wider City of York community
• Are an interdisciplinary event between departments
• Encourage link between York and other universities
• Target a section or group of the postgraduate community that is not well served by an existing group

A BID SHOULD FULFIL AT LEAST 2 OF THE ABOVE CRITERIA.

If you are not sure whether your bid falls within the scope of the Community Fund, come and talk to us about it first.

The Community Fund is NOT for projects that:

• Have been previously funded by the Community Fund, and have not proven sustainable
• For personal expenses
• For Academic conferences
• For College funds, but can be used for college-led events

Funding must be used by July 31st.

You will be informed by a GSA newsletter when the applications are open and you will receive a link to the application form. Make sure that you fill in every section in detail. At the minimum you need to provide evidence of the impact your project is expected to have on the postgraduate community, and a full breakdown of the expected costs. The more relevant information you present the better chance you have of securing your bid.

Successfully pitched bids will be invited to present in person to a panel of judges. You will be given 10 minutes to present your idea/project and then 5 minutes for questions. The judges will then discuss the bids and will inform winning bids via email the day after the bidding process. Some bids may need to be tweeked in order to qualify for funding and this will be discussed in follow up meetings.

Projects supported by the GSA Community Fund must be branded with the GSA and Community Fund logo and reference must be made to GSA support in all written publicity. A report must be filed after the project has completed detailing it’s impact on the postgraduate community and photos should be provided as evidence.

We will meet you to arrange how the project is implemented. Please do not make any bookings or arrangements before your bid has been officially confirmed. We can also help with publicity, including printed material.