The Alice Horsman Fund was established in 1953. Its purpose is (a) to provide alumni with opportunities to travel at such time in their careers as may be of most value to them, in order to either broaden their experience of other countries and their peoples or to carry out research and (b) to support alumni in a significant career change.

Trinity Term 2024 Alice Horsman Scholarship

About the Alice Horsman Fund

Alice Horsman was a Classics student at Somerville College, Oxford. She matriculated in 1908 and was among the first women to be called to the English Bar. She practiced law for many years until deteriorating hearing forced her to end her career. Her law chambers were destroyed in the Blitz in 1940, and in 1943 she bought the Drimnin estate in Morvern, Argyll and took up farming. With her adventurous spirit she took up sailing at the age of 65, cruising across the Bay of Biscay to the Mediterranean and later across the North Sea to Norway, keeping a medicine cupboard of Scotch whisky on board and never once succumbing to seasickness! She died in 1978 at the age of 89, but her abiding interest in her College never waned in her lifetime.

Eligibility

All Somerville alumni are eligible with the exception of visiting and associate students. Alumni who are currently studying at Somerville are not eligible. Please note that it is not possible to use the fund to support course-related travel or research costs incurred by alumni studying at other universities or Oxford colleges. This includes Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery students. 

Applicants should be in need of financial support, and be able to demonstrate that their proposed project meets one of the two aims of the Alice Horsman Fund:

  • To support travel in order to either broaden experience or carry out research
  • To support a significant career change

The planned travel or project must start after a certain date each term. In Trinity Term this is Wednesday 22nd May. It is not possible to be awarded retrospective funding unless there are exceptional circumstances. There is limited funding available so priority will be given to those who have not previously received awards.

Award levels

Up to £1,000. In exceptional circumstances, it is possible to make awards of up to £2,000.

Application process

  • Applicants should complete the application form and email it to student.funding@some.ox.ac.uk by the deadline. In Trinity Term this will be 12 noon on Monday 6th May. They should also include any evidence of estimated or actual costs.
  • Applicants should also arrange for a reference to be submitted to student.funding@some.ox.ac.uk by the deadline. In Trinity Term this will be 12 noon on Monday 15th May.

Application and project deadlines

Applications are accepted each term.

Term Deadline for application to be received Deadline for reference to be received Project must start after this date
Michaelmas Term 2023 12 noon on Monday 16th October 2023 12 noon on Wednesday 25th October 2023 Wednesday 1st November 2023
Hilary Term 2024 12 noon on Monday 22nd January 2024 12 noon on Wednesday 31 January 2024 Wednesday 7th February 2024
Trinity Term 2024 12 noon on Monday 6th May 2024 12 noon on Wednesday 15th May 2024 Wednesday 22nd May 2024

 

Decisions

Decisions will be made by Somerville College Travel and Special Project Grants Committee.

Reporting

Successful applicants will be expected to submit a report after the completion of their project.

Queries

If you have any queries, please email the Scholarships and Funding Officer.