Small research grants

Small research grants

Research grants of up to £400 each are available annually for student members of the RMA (or members of RMA student groups) and member scholars with no access to institutional support.

The RMA provides support towards the costs of expenses associated with travel for research, and the presentation of work (including the performance of compositions) at conferences, festivals, and workshops; reproduction and translation costs for publications; costs associated with performance, recording, and production; and the purchase of equipment or materials for a specific piece of research (student members must confirm in the case of such requests that the equipment is not available for use via their institution).

In line with the RMA’s commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion, we encourage applications from across the full spectrum of music studies, including individuals from currently underrepresented groups.

Eligibility

RMA student members (or members of RMA student groups) and member scholars with no access to institutional support are invited to apply.

Grants are awarded competitively, and where necessary, preference may be given to applicants who were not in receipt of an award in the previous calendar year.

Applications for expenses relating to an event that has already occurred by the time of application will not be considered, but applications for expenses relating to an event that occurs between submission of the application and its consideration are acceptable (as are those relating to events after the time of consideration).

Awardees are expected to submit a short post-award report of 200 words as a requirement of the award. This will be used (among other things) for publicity and website/social media content.

Deadline

The deadlines for grant requests are 1 May and 1 November.

How to Apply

Applications are made directly via email to the Executive Officer exec@rma.ac.uk; please include “Small Research Grant Submission” and your name in the subject line. The application consists of two separate parts:

1. A completed application form

2. A letter of support from the applicant’s supervisor, advisor, or mentor. Letters of support should be sent directly from the referee. For student applicants, the referee should usually be the supervisor. As with the application itself, we prefer to receive these via email (as an attachment, with the applicant name in the subject header).

Recipients in 2022

November 2022

  • Mollie Carlyle, for a research trip to America to undertake ethnographic research.
  • Niamh Rose Gibbs, to attend and present at the Kyoto Conference on Arts, Media and Culture.
  • Ikuko Inoguchi, to support the premiere of To-o-ne (The Echoes) for shakuhachi and piano.
  • Marta Riccardi, to attend AMS/SMT/SEM conference in New Orleans.
  • Sureshkumar P. Sekar, to attend and present at a conference at University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

May 2022

  • Dunya Habash, for attendance at the IMS conference in Athens.
  • Ju-Lee Hong, for attendance at the RMA Annual Conference in Durham.
  • Angus Howie, for a research trip to archives in Vienna.
  • Anna Ovsyanikova, to support recording of sings by Mathieu Crickboom.
  • Oliver Rudland, to support research and present a paper on environmental concerns in community opera projects.
  • Stephanie Shon, for a research trip to National Library and National Archives of Australia.
  • Ellen Stokes, for a research trip to Vienna and Österreichische Nationalbibliothek.
  • Samantha Talbot, to undertake Space Junk Broadcast Tour.
  • Joyce Tang, for attendance at the 2nd Global Piano Roll Meeting.
  • Nico de Villiers, for travel and accommodation for a recording project.
  • Min Erh Wang, for attendance at the IMS conference in Athens.
  • Jessica Blaise Ward, to purchase Arturia V Collection 8 Software Instruments.
  • Maureen Wolloshin, for attendance at a residency with Wandelweiser Collective.