Special Events Fund

The SCOS philosophy is ‘serious fun’. Serious, because we are dedicated to the development of unusual and groundbreaking ideas in the analysis of organised life. Fun, because our members provide a continual source of enthusiasm, support and inspiration for each other. For SCOS, the social side of our activities is an essential – indeed indistinguishable – element of our intellectual and practical endeavours.

To encourage the development of often marginalised perspectives on organised life, and the ethico-political promises of such perspectives, the SCOS Board is delighted to offer funding for ‘special events’.  The Special Events Fund will be offered every year although the total amount disbursed will depend on the surplus available. Events should challenge and blur the boundaries of conventional thinking in keeping with the SCOS ethos of ‘serious fun’.

Information for Proposers

Criteria

SCOS wishes to support creative and/or innovative activities that reflect the SCOS ethos and which would struggle to be supported elsewhere. We do not wish to limit your imagination as to what forms activities should take; they could range from a workshop to the collaborative production of a film or artwork. As an example, when the Fund operated previously, it paid for a one-day workshop in Bristol where the participants made dolls in response to Hélène Cixous’s Laugh of the Medusa. Our criteria for a successful proposal are therefore:

  • The extent to which the event echoes the SCOS intellectual ethos: a critical and reflexive interest in the interlinked issues of organisational symbolism, culture and change, articulated in the broadest possible sense and informed by our commitment to unusual, inter- and trans-disciplinary understandings of organisation and management explored where appropriate via innovative, qualitative research methodologies.
  • We are more likely to fund events which conventional sources (eg UK ESRC or the EU) would not fund – simply put, the more original, innovative and downright out there your event is, the better!
  • Applications should speak to the ways in which the event will be inclusive, collegial and supportive, especially of younger researchers and those from locations less well represented in our existing network.
  • Relatedly, we will assess the extent to which the funds required will be used to maximize attendance/participation, so as to potentially enlarge SCOS membership. As such it is advised that applications are specific about how the funding will do so.
  • Events which are already well supported by institutional or other sources of funding, or where other sources of funding have seemingly not been exhausted, will in all likelihood not receive SCOS special events funding.
  • We will NOT fund academic time, but practitioner time could be supported if appropriate.
  • Applications will be compared to each other and the most deserving according to these criteria will attract funds.

Application Process

  • SCOS members are invited to apply for awards in the range of £500 to £2,000 for each event.
  • The Board will consider applications twice per year at the Spring and Autumn Board meetings. The deadline for the Spring meeting is the 15th of March and the deadline for the Autumn meeting is the 15th of October.
  • Successful applicants should hold the event and spend the funds awarded within 12 months of notification of the award.
  • If an application is turned down, the applicant(s) can revise their bid and resubmit for a following deadline. We wish to encourage this as a development opportunity.

The application details required are as follows:

  • Organisers of event (names and contact details, institutional affiliation/s).
  • Host institution and/ or location of event (if different).
  • Date/s of event.
  • Description of event including number of participants, theme, whether it is intended for a specific audience (eg doctoral students, early-career researchers etc.).
  • Amount sought and reasons for seeking SCOS funding (ie, what will the money be used for?).
  • Details of any other funding that has already been secured and/ or applied for, or details of why funding from other sources is not available.
  • Explicit indication as to how the funding sought will benefit SCOS in terms of encouraging attendance from doctoral students, early career researchers and those from locations less well represented in our existing network, so as potentially to enlarge our membership in future.
  • An indication of how the event relates to the intellectual activities of SCOS.

Applications should be no more than 500 words long. The Board will only consider one application per event.

Please email applications to Anne-Marie Greene, Chair of SCOS. Any queries can also be sent to this address. Applicants will be informed of the results within two weeks of each meeting, unless further details are required by the Board in order to reach a final decision. Successful applicants are required to use SCOS branding, which will be supplied, and prepare a report/account to be used in SCOS media promotion.

We look forward very much to receiving your applications.