Animal Welfare Student Scholarships

Through our Student Scholarships, Science for Animal Welfare (SciFAW) aims to encourage undergraduate students to develop their interests in animal welfare by providing them with an opportunity to conduct relevant research or educational projects.  

Applications are welcome from undergraduate students who are interested in carrying out a project in animal welfare. MSc or PhD students are not eligible to apply. The lead supervisor for the applicant must be a member of Science for Animal Welfare or be from an academic institution which is a member of the Science for Animal Welfare LINKs scheme.      

Projects may be carried out anywhere in the world. If the location of the study is not at the university or institute where the student is enrolled, confirmation is needed from the study host. 

The project must be relevant to improving or assessing the welfare of farm, companion, laboratory, or zoo animals, or free-living wild animals whose welfare is compromised by human activity. The project will be relatively small, due to the short duration and the early career stage of the students. You can see some of our recently supported Scholarship projects on our website. 

For projects looking into the welfare of farmed animals during transport, at markets, or during slaughter, please consider applying for a Scholarship from our sister charity, the Humane Slaughter Association (HSA) instead, as these are core areas for the HSA. 

Student Scholarships consist of both a student stipend (a weekly subsistence allowance for the Scholar based on local living wage) and a budget for project costs (up to £800 for project expenses/consumables directly related to the project).  

The project should be carried out between 1 May and 1 December in the year of the application. The start and end of the project may span more than 8 weeks, but the total project duration can only include up to the equivalent of 8 weeks of full-time work.  

Payments are made directly to the student scholar via bank transfer.  

Please note that funds can only be transferred into an account bearing the applicant’s name.  Payment cannot be issued to third parties.  Any costs associated with a bank transfer must be met by the recipients. Please also note that sometimes, for reasons beyond our control such as international sanctions, Science for Animal Welfare may not be able to make certain payments. 

Scholars must submit a report on completion of their project (please read the Scholarship Terms and Conditions for full reporting requirements). 

Scholars are also asked to present their research findings at the Annual Scholars Meeting held online – usually in December. The meeting will be attended by all the Scholars of the year (including those, who have been awarded the Humane Slaughter Association (HSA) Scholarships) and their supervisors, as well as staff from SciFAW and the HSA. We aim for the meeting to be relatively small, as for many it will be their first public scientific presentation, and a safe atmosphere is aimed for.

The application must be completed in English, and consists of three parts: 

1. An online form with contact information and a summary of the project 

2. A detailed project description (up to 1,000 words) 

3. A CV for the student applying (up to 2 pages) 

Uploaded files must be in PDF format.  

Please note that a brief budget is requested for the planned use of the up to £800 for consumables. Although paid in advance, these expenses will require receipts at the end of the project.