Travel Funds
A diverse range of academic grants and travel funds are available to Pembroke students during their time at the College, intended to help them to undertake further study or research alongside their degree. For course-specific travel funds, check our course pages. Availability of these funds may vary each year.
The George Bredin Travel Fund
For Undergraduate students
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The George Bredin Travel Fund is available to 1st and 2nd year undergraduates at Pembroke
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The awards are for travel to third world countries, with preference for countries in Africa, to carry out research for an educational project.
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One award is typically made annually. In 2019 the award was worth £500.
Pier Giorgio Frassati Travel Fund
For Undergraduates & Graduates
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This fund is open to undergraduate and graduate students for travel in the Long Vacation (summer)
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The total annual fund is £1000 and typically one award is made annually.
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This award is intended to contribute to the costs of travel to any part of the world, with the objective of acquiring further knowledge about that country's development and future prospects in relation to the environment.
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The planned project abroad should also be connected to the student's subject of study at Pembroke.
Sandrew Travel Fund
For Undergraduates & Graduates
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The Sandrew Travel Fund is available to non-final year undergraduates and graduates for travel to the United States.
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The purpose of travel must be to gain a greater understanding of the culture of the US and to benefit academically.
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Typically one fund is made annually. In previous years the award has been worth £500.
The Arthur Felix Broomfield Prize
For Undergraduates
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This prize is for 2nd year undergraduates reading History (including Joint Schools) for an area of travel to be undertaken outside of the British Isles.
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In previous years the total fund available has been £750.
Patrick Higgins Travelling Scholarships in Theology
For Undergraduates
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This prize is for undergraduates reading Theology, Philosophy and Theology or Theology and Oriental Studies, who wish to travel overseas in the furtherance of their education.
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In previous years the total fund available has been £250.
The Robert Baldick Travel Prize
For Graduates
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This prize is available for graduate students undertaking any French related study abroad.
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In previous years the total fund available has been £1000.
Melandra Castle Fund
For Graduates
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Applications are invited from graduate students who are completing their second year of study and continuing the next year. The purpose of the award is to meet academic (including travel) costs in the furtherance of the applicant’s research.
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In previous years the total fund available has been £1000.
Stanley Ho Travel Funding for China
For Undergraduates & Graduates
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The fund is available to 1st, 2nd and 3rd year undergraduates studying Chinese at Pembroke and for students on the MPhil Modern Chinese Studies
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The fund is for travel to China connected to the student's study of Chinese
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The award is worth £250 and up to 12 awards can be offered annually
Technos International Week
For Undergraduates
- Undergraduate students are invited to apply for an opportunity to travel to Japan for 2 weeks to participate in the Annual Technos International Week, an important event in Japan that promotes exchange and understanding between international participants and the students of Technos International College.
- In previous years, this award has been given to 4 Pembroke undergraduates a year, who are interested in Japan and have never had the opportunity to visit there, to travel with an accompanying faculty member. Find previous student reports below & here.
- International Week normally takes place in weeks 8 and 9 of Trinity Term. Second year undergraduates will normally have priority, but others may apply.
Ella-Rose Keith:
Ella-Rose spent a month in Indonesia, moving around every few days to visit Bali, Lombok and vaious Gili Islands, among others. She used the time to explore the distinct, historic culture of each island and the ways this links to the religions of the island.
The timing of her trip allowed her to witness the Hindu festival of Nyepi (also referred to as silence day) and the celebrations and practices that mark it. She visited temples and mosques, and spoke to locals about religious traditions, as well as taking the opportunity to attend a local cooking class and explore the varied landscape of the country. She shares: "The way in which religion functions across this part of the world, in conjunction with tradition, culture, and history makes it so unique and such a rich fabric to engage with."
Audrey Dickinson:
Audrey used the fund to travel to Borneo for a departmental field course in tropical forest ecology. The course took place in Danum Valley Conservation area in Sabah, an area which exemplifies the major challenges and prospects of modern rainforest conservation.
The course saw her gain hands-on experience with field techniques as she handled of of birds, bats, insects and plants; attend lectures about the natural history of the local environment; and work with a small group to design and execute an original research project.
The experience gave Audrey a taste of fieldwork which led her to spend her summer planning and executing her own project back in her home state of California. She says: "I never would have had the confidence to undertake that project without the pracKcal skills and research independence the Borneo trip helped build."
Yaseen Christian Andrewsen:
Yaseen traveled to Morocco & Mali using the Melandra Castle Fund, and conducted research for his dissertation on al-Mukhtār al-Kuntī, an important but lesser-known West African, Saharan Muslim scholar. During his trip, he visited various manuscript libraries in Africa to access primary sources.
Yaseen shares: "I am incredibly grateful for being jointly awarded the Melandra Castle Travel Prize. It has given me a greater ability to complete my research for my dissertation. I hope my work might bring more awareness to the vibrant intellectual scene in the Sahara and West Africa in the 18th century with particular appreciation for the contribution of al-Mukhtār al-Kuntī."
Juliana Choi:
Juliana used this fund to travel to Les Diablerets to present her poster titled ‘Roles in learning for octopaminergic modulation of Drosophila dopaminergic neurons’ at her first international conference.
She shares: "I am very grateful to the Melandra Castle Fund and Pembroke College for supporting me in attending and presenting my research at the Gordon Research Seminar ‘Integrating Diverse Approaches to Understand Neural Mechanisms of Behavior’ and the Gordon Research Conference ‘Mechanisms that Underlie Flexible Neural Coding'."
Harrison Kaye:
Harrison joined 3 other Pembroke students in a 2-week visit to Japan to participate in the Annual Technos International Week, an important event that promotes exchange and understanding between international participants and the students of Technos International College.
Harrison shares: “If you have an interest in Japan you will not find a better opportunity to explore that interest than this trip. I feel extremely lucky to have been able to be a part of the ‘Pembroke 5’ (as we were known on the attendance register) and to explore a country that I have admired from afar for so long. The two weeks were a unique opportunity to interact with and learn from people all over the world with a shared interest in expanding their worldview, and I know that I will cherish the memories and friendships I made for a long time.”
Jamal Hasan:
Jamal visited Japan for 2 weeks along with 3 other Pembroke students to participate in the Annual Technos International Week, an important event that promotes exchange and understanding between international participants and the students of Technos International College.
Jamal shares: "Being given the chance to travel to Japan for two weeks and experience the culture first hand from students in Japan was an amazing experience. This once-in-a-lifetime opportunity will be something that I remember forever and will forever keep close to one of the most amazing few weeks that I have ever experienced. The rich culture, the diverse and delicious food, the breath-taking landscapes, and the unique way of life is definitely something that I would strongly recommend to anyone considering visiting Asia. I’ve been incredibly fortunate to have been able to participate in the Technos International Week at the end of my last term at Oxford, and I could not be evermore grateful to Pembroke, Technos College, Nancy, Matt, and the lifelong friends I made in this trip.”
Ayeza Akhtar:
Ayeza joined 3 other Pembroke students in a 2-week visit to Japan to participate in the Annual Technos International Week, an important event that promotes exchange and understanding between international participants and the students of Technos International College.
Ayeza shares: "The friendships I have made at IW23 are bound to endure far beyond the two-week trip, and I eagerly anticipate the opportunity to return to Japan and reunite with my newfound friends. Dr. Tanaka's legacy is deeply ingrained in this experience, and I am committed to continuing the spirit of cultural understanding and friendship that he championed.”
Sofia Panourgias:
Ayeza visited Japan for 2 weeks with a group of Pembroke students to participate in the Annual Technos International Week, an important event that promotes exchange and understanding between international participants and the students of Technos International College.
Sofia shares: “Everyone involved in the activities – staff and students alike – was eager not only to make us feel at home by providing a great sense of hospitality and accessible topics throughout the programme but wished to impart their knowledge and experience to us. Indeed, one of my fondest memories of International Week was the casual way in which I was able to speak to such a range of people. We would each relate the different ways in which we grew up and were used to living, but also found striking similarities – in favourite foods and films, for example.”
Chloe Hall:
Chloe shares: "Thanks to the generous support of the Patrick Higgins Memorial Scholarship, I was able to go to Rome for a four day period of enrichment in Catholic history and theology and research into the relationship between Ancient Political Rome and 1st Century Judaism."
Read Chloe's full report here.
Abby O'Gorman:
Abby shares: "I was very lucky to travel to Assam, India with the help of the George Bredin Travel Prize and the George Bredin Travel Fund. While there, I completed a six-week internship with an NGO named Akshar Foundation, based in Guwahati. I worked as a junior teacher, teaching English, Maths and Science. I also organised a ‘science show’, which used basic household items to demonstrate interesting scientific phenomena"
Read Abby's full report here.
Joshua Kirkhope-Arkley:
Pembroke student Joshua Kirkhope-Arkley (European and Middle Eastern Languages, 2020) used the Robert Baldick fund to undertake a work opportunity with a newspaper in Lomé, Togo.
During his time there, Joshua would choose Togolese books to read and write summaries and critical analyses about them in French. These analyses would be published in the Literary ballads section of the newspaper.
Read more from Joshua's trip here.
Sidharth Kumar in Arizona:
This fund helped Sidharth travel to Arizona, USA to meet with her supervisor Sam Cushman and work on her PhD research, which involved developing a computational model to simulate animal movement paths across different landscapes.
Oluwadayomi Charles Paul in Nigeria:
Oluwadayomi used this fund for an exploratory trip to Nigeria. The purpose of the trip was to learn about the state of the aviation industry in Sub-Saharan African and determine if there are, in fact, opportunities for innovative individuals and organizations. The main objective was assess the feasibility of developing a new airline in Nigeria.
Oluwadayomi shares: "[This trip] was an invaluable experience and I am grateful for the prize and the opportunity made available by the scholarship."
Olivia Durand in New Orleans:
Olivia used this fund during her trip to New Orleans in 2019. She presented a paper at an international conference hosted by Tulane University. This conference was combined with a longer research trip to the United States, which was essential to gather archival material and evidence for her doctoral thesis.
Olivia shares: "The Sandrew Fund (£250), combined with small grants from the History Faculty and the conference itself, greatly facilitated the completion of [this] trip..."
Wanda Von Knobelsdorff in Argentina:
This fund allowed Wanda to visit Buenos Aires to gather material for her extended essay. She researched the topic of Italian immigration in Argentina and its influence on the local culture. She visited the Centre for Latin American Migration Studies (CEMLA), and used materials provided by their librarian to explore connections between Italian and Argentinian literature.
Wanda shares "The impression I have after my time in Buenos Aires is that today the Argentinians, and especially the people in Buenos Aires, are proud of their heritage. Italian culture and literature are cherished and kept alive in this beautiful, remote country."