J. Arthur Ramsay Fund

The J Arthur Ramsay Fund supports Natural Science Tripos IB students who intend to take Part II Zoology.

The J Arthur Ramsay Fund is intended for laboratory-based research studies in the Department of Zoology during the long vacation of 2026.

Applicants can request support through maintenance costs or research costs such as travel or equipment costs. Applicants will be paid a maintenance cost (this is paid as an internship in line with the National Living Wage) for up to four weeks only. Requests may also be made for additional costs such as travel or equipment. Please note, if requests for research costs are made in addition to the maintenance pay, these may not be granted even if the application is successful. 

Applications are currently closed and will reopen during 2026/7

Please follow the link to download the application form. Balfour Browne J Arthur Ramsay Application Form

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 

During the submission period, applications should be sent to Ian Harrison via admin@zoo.cam.ac.uk.

Please note:

  • 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 Environment Coordinator. Successful applicants 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 in the lab, 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 J Arthur Ramsay and Balfour-Browne intend to consider all applications in tandem, so if you are 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. The royalties accruing from the publication in 1977 of a book entitled Transport of Ions and Water in Animals in honour of Professor J. A. Ramsay shall form a fund, called the J. Arthur Ramsay Fund, which shall be devoted to the furtherance of education and research in Experimental Zoology in the Department of Zoology.
  2. The Managers of the Fund shall be the Head of the Department of Zoology and two of the University officers in the Department of Zoology who shall be appointed by the Head of the Department in the Michaelmas Term to serve for two years from 1 January following their appointment.
  3. The income arising from the capital of the Fund shall be applied at the discretion of the Managers, and subject to such conditions as the Managers may think fit, to make grants as follows:
    1. to assist registered Graduate Students pursuing a course of research in the Department of Zoology to visit laboratories outside the University in connection with their research.
    2. to assist persons, admitted as Graduate Students to pursue a course of research in the Department of Zoology, to participate before coming into residence in experimental research under the supervision of a person normally working within the Department or to visit laboratories outside the University in connection with their research
    3. to assist candidates for Part II of the Natural Sciences Tripos intending to offer the subject Zoology to participate, in one or more of the three vacations in the twelve months preceding the Tripos Examination, in experimental research under the supervision of a person normally working within the Department.
  4. The preceding regulations may be altered by Grace provided that the object of the Fund as defined in Regulation 1 is adhered to.