Balfour-Browne Fund

The Balfour-Browne Fund supports the study of entomology.

We welcome applications in any area of entomology, including summer internships by undergraduates, costs of voluntary work or student expeditions, small pieces of equipment for research groups, or pilot research projects. Any person working in the University, who need not be a member of the University, is eligible to apply. The Managers particularly welcome applications for field studies, especially within the United Kingdom, and from current undergraduate students. Postgraduate students are also invited to apply, provided that their proposed research will not directly contribute to their current course of study.

Applicants for summer internships must be paid as an internship in line with the National Living Wage.  Where this is requested from the Balfour-Browne Fund, applicants will be paid a maintenance cost for up to 4 weeks only. For postgraduate students, please refer to the application form for further details regarding work as a student.  If requests for travel or equipment are made in addition to a maintenance cost, these are unlikely to be granted. 

Applications are currently closed and will reopen during 2026/7.

Please follow this link for the application form: Balfour-Browne J Arthur Ramsay Application  | Balfour-Browne Application for Postgraduate Students

Your application should include the following:

  • the application form (including a brief outline of your project)
  • a short CV (max 2 pages)
  • a brief letter of support from your Director of Studies 
  • a brief letter of support from your proposed supervisor

When we are accepting applications, they should be sent to Ian Harrison via admin@zoo.cam.ac.uk.

Please note: 

  • No grant may be made to any registered Postgraduate Student if it would support work directly connected to their approved course of study or research. 
  • All research activities and trips must be covered by appropriate risk assessments. Any award will be contingent on risk assessments being approved by the Department's Safety and Environmental Coordinator. Successful applicants based in a University Department must undertake a safety induction prior to the project commencing. 
  • Students are expected to take it upon themselves to contact members of the Department who they would like to work with, who would supply a letter of support. 
  • The funding is not for undergraduate work that may subsequently be submitted for assessment. 
  • Recipients of the Fund are expected to submit a report after the completion of their project. 
  • The Fund Managers of both Balfour-Browne and J Arthur Ramsay intend to consider all applications in tandem, so if you're eligible to apply for both, you do not need to submit two applications or supply two sets of letters of support. 

From the Statutes and Ordinances of the University of Cambridge:

  1. From the balance of the sum remaining from the bequest of £10,000 by Professor W. A. F. Balfour-Browne, of Gonville and Caius College, a Balfour-Browne Fund shall be established in the University for the advancement of the study of entomology.
  2. The Fund shall be administered by two Managers, who shall be University officers in the Faculty of Biology appointed by the Faculty Board, one on the nomination of the Head of the Department Genetics and one on the nomination of the Head of the Department of Zoology. Managers shall be appointed in the Michaelmas Term to serve for two years from 1 January next following.
  3. Any person working in the University, who need not be a member of the University, shall be eligible to apply for a grant from the Fund to support the study of entomology; provided that
    1. preference shall be given to persons in statu pupillari
    2. preference shall be given to the support of studies in the field, especially in the United Kingdom,
    3. no grant shall be made to any registered Graduate Student if it would support work directly connected with his or her approved course of study or research.
  4. In each Michaelmas Term the Managers shall announce thedateor dates by which applications for grants from the Fund may be submitted (via the Department of Zoology website).
  5. Any unexpended income shall not be added to the capital of the Fund but shall be accumulated for use as income in subsequent years.