Guidelines for the distribution of money in the Development Fund
1. The purpose of the Development Fund is to assist primarily postgraduate students to make use
of opportunities of academic learning that is directly related to their field of research (e.g. to
attend or participate in national1 / international conferences, national / international seminars,
national / international summer/fall/spring schools/courses, national / international workshops,
short internships, etc.) and the publication of research; as well as other kinds of support, e.g. to
acquire personal computers.
2. The amount and quantity of grants from the Development Fund will be decided from year to
year. Applicants should note that there is no recurrent way to replenish the Development Fund,
meaning that it is unlikely that all applications will be successful in a given year.
3. Applications for a grant from the Development Fund must be handed in on the prescribed form
with the Postgraduate Coordinator. The need for attendance and the relevance of the event for
the student’s field of study must be clearly stated and motivated. This need not be done for an
application for attendance of the national postgraduate students’ symposium. Applications may
be submitted at any time during the year, but should be submitted at least 60 days before funds
are needed by the applicant.
4. All applications will be considered at a full departmental meeting, or, if that is not possible, in
consultation with all permanent academic staff members. Students will normally be informed of
the results of this meeting within an hour after the meeting. The reason(s) for not granting
financial support will also be made known to the student concerned. The decision of the
department is final.
5. Some representative (but not necessarily exhaustive) criteria for meriting a grant include:
The relevance of the majority of papers and/or participants must be demonstrated (e.g.
“Paper x is on a topic/issue that is related to this part of my thesis,” “Pete Pumpkin is a
renowned researcher on this issue that I will cover in my thesis, cf. [quote stuff by him
or on him]”), “The general selection of papers will assist me to become aware of the
background to current cutting edge approaches to the question[s] my thesis are
concerned with,” etc.).
The quality of current and previous work by the applicant.
The probable impact that the event may have on the applicant’s current knowledge.
The possibilities of networking.
The possibility of publishing research results (in the case of M and D students).
Whether the applicant reported on the use of any previous grants awarded.
The extent to which the applicant made good use of any previous grants awarded.
6. If it is possible, and where such funds may exist, Master’s and doctoral students will be advised
and assisted to apply for additional funding for their proposed attendance of opportunities of
academic learning off campus.
7. The fund has to grow and be replenished. This can be attained by the maximum publications of
grantees. Master’s and doctoral students who were granted money from the Development
Fund will normally be expected to submit at least one publishable article to at least a national
accredited journal.
8. All grantees must submit to the Postgraduate Coordinator a brief report on the event they
attended, presenting résumés of papers they attended at the conference, plus a general
evaluation of the relevance, character and/or quality of the conference. Reports are due within
30 days of the last day of the event, and no grantee who fails to submit such a report is eligible
to receive another grant. Keep all invoices, slips, tickets and other proofs of expenditure.
9. The nature and status of especially some overseas summer schools and seminars should be
carefully scrutinized, to avoid sending a postgraduate student to a touristic endeavour
disguised as an academic event.
10. The department will strive to achieve a good spread of grantees according to their
postgraduate status, i.e. opportunities of academic learning will be ranked in the following way:
10.1 Honours students may be supported to attend one national conference plus
attendance of and/or participation in the national postgraduate students’ symposium.
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‘National’ covers South Africa, Lesotho, Swaziland, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Botswana and Namibia.
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Honours students will not be expected to present a paper to a conference/seminar/
workshop, etc. Honours students will not be considered for overseas events (except in the
most unusual circumstances such as the prospect of publishing research).
10.2 Master’s students may be supported to attend and/or participate in the national
postgraduate students’ symposium, national conferences and national workshops /colloquia
(the maximum will depend on the availability of funds). Master’s students will be required to
present a paper at least to one of the events they attend. A paper presented to the national
postgraduate students’ symposium may be presented to one other event only. Master’s
students will not be considered for overseas events, except under very special
circumstances, which, in each case, must be made clear to all postgraduate students.
10.3 All papers by honours and master’s students intended for presentation at a
conference, workshop or colloquium and for which an application for funding from the
Department is required, must have the endorsement of at least the lecturer under whose
supervision the paper originated.
10.4 Doctoral students may be supported to attend or participate in any kind of academic
event that has direct relevance to their field of study. If funds are available, doctoral
students may apply to attend/participate in more than one opportunity of academic learning.
As they will be the only students who will normally be considered for overseas events, it will
be required of them to submit a paper for each event in which they have participated to
accredited journals if they are not considered for publication in the conference’s
proceedings.
11. Postgraduate students may print the final version of their dissertations/theses on the
printers of the department.
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