Purpose of the OIV Scheme

The Overseas Institutional Visit (OIV) scheme supports visits to educational institutions and research organisations around the world. Visits must be undertaken at a higher education institution or an organisation with a substantive research office.

The OIV scheme offers:

• An extension to your studentship of up to 13 weeks.
• A travel and subsistence allowance (budget dependent) of up to £1,500 for European destinations and £2,500 for destinations outside Europe.

OIV funding can be used to support activities such as:

• undertaking additional specialist research training not available in the UK
• developing language skills
• establishing research links that will be beneficial to your current or future career
• disseminating early career research findings
• attending and participating in seminars that are directly relevant to your research.

The activities listed above describe the purposes for which OIV funding may be used. Meeting one or more of these purposes does not automatically result in funding being awarded. OIV funding is competitive and budget-limited. Applicants must provide a strong and compelling justification for how the proposed visit will enhance their doctoral research and training, why the proposed host institution is particularly suitable, and what specific outcomes will result from the visit.

Applications should demonstrate:

• clear academic benefit to the current PhD project;
• a well-developed programme of activities;
• tangible and proportionate outcomes;
• value for money;
• why the proposed activities are best undertaken at the host institution.

Supervisor, DGS and host statements should corroborate these points and explain why the proposed visit represents an appropriate use of OIV funding.

Studentship Extension

An OIV may include a funded studentship extension of up to 13 weeks, subject to the duration of the approved visit and scheme regulations.

Important: DTP1 students only: For DTP1 students, funded extensions are capped at a maximum of 13 weeks in total across both the OIV and Placement/Internship schemes. For example:

• A student who has already received a 13-week Placement/Internship extension would not be eligible for an additional funded OIV extension.
• A student who has received a 7-week Placement/Internship extension could receive up to a further 6 weeks of funded extension through an OIV.

This restriction does not apply to DTP2 students.

Timings

• Visits can last for up to a maximum of 13 weeks.
• Visits should not commence within the first three months of the studentship period.
• Visits taking place in the final year of the studentship must be completed at least three months before the end date of the award and prior to the extension period being implemented.
• Applicants must be in the ‘research’ component of an awards and not during a masters.

Eligibility

• Applications must be student-led.
• Visits must be related to the completion of the student’s PhD.
• The purpose of the visits funded must not be for overseas fieldwork as this is supported through other mechanisms.
• Visits must involve visiting a Higher Education institution, or an organisation with a substantive research office outside of the UK
• The destination must be deemed safe by the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO).
• Visits must not be undertaken if the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office advises against visiting the country concerned
• Statements of support are required from the student’s supervisor, and host institution as part of the application process.

Travel Support Amount

1. Students may request additional funds of up to £1,500 for European destinations and £2,500 for destinations outside Europe.
2. This additional funding can be used to support travel costs of the OIV (e.g. airfare, visa application fees, accommodation, etc).
3. Funding requests are budget dependent and LISS DTP may not be able to cover all requested funding.
4. We expect you to cover the usual everyday costs of living abroad through your stipend payments.
5. You will be required to itemise all additional funding requested and provide proof of costs for all elements.
6. The administration of funding is different across the 3 partner institutions. You must follow the guidance on expense claims and reimbursement from your home institution.

How to apply

OIV Application Deadlines

• OIV applications will be reviewed on the first working Monday of January, April, June and October each year.
• If your proposed OIV does not align with these deadlines, please contact the LISS DTP team at liss-dtp@kcl.ac.uk. LISS DTP reserves the right to limit reviewing out-of-cycle review requests, students should plan appropriately and submit their application for funding within the quarterly review periods.
• We aim to communicate decisions within two weeks of the application deadline.

Application form: OIV application form

Additional documentation required:

1. Supervisor Statement of Support: All applications must include a written statement of support from the student’s primary supervisor. The statement should address:

• the academic merit of the proposed visit
• how the visit will contribute to the student’s PhD research and training
• the value for money of the proposed activity
• the appropriateness of the timing within the student’s programme of study
• how the visit aligns with the student’s overall PhD training plan
• arrangements for continued supervision during the visit period
• where the visit is primarily for research training purposes, why the training is integral to the student’s research and why it is best provided by the proposed overseas host institution
• confirmation that the proposed visit will not disrupt the student’s planned submission date 

2. Host Institution Statement of Support: All applications must include a written statement of support from the host academic or institution. The statement should confirm:

• willingness to host the student
• the resources, facilities and/or expertise that will be made available
• the planned programme of activities during the visit
• the expected outputs and benefits of the visit
• the support that will be provided to the student during their stay
• any fees associated with the visit

3. Travel Support Cost Details: All estimates must be supported by quotations or screenshots in the form of a single combined PDF document, which should be emailed to liss-dtp@kcl.ac.uk. Please provide a breakdown of the travel support amount being sought. For every item provide:

• estimated cost;
• supplier;
• evidence attached.

N.B.: Failure to provide proof of costs of additional funding sought in a single PDF will result in the additional funding request being rejected.

4. KCL students: Business Travel Authorisation and KCL Travel Insurance authorisation (see below)

OIV report (on completion of OIV)

Following completion of your OIV, you must submit an OIV report. This includes input from:

• your PhD supervisor
• the host institution.

Why are statements and feedback required? As OIVs are funded through ESRC resources, LISS DTP must be able to demonstrate the academic value and outcomes of each visit. Statements of support and post-visit feedback help ensure accountability for the use of funding and evidence the benefits of the scheme for doctoral training.

Institutional Travel Policies

Students must follow the travel and expenses policies of their home institution when arranging travel.

Queen Mary University of London: Please refer to the Queen Mary Finance Guide for LISS Students. Angela Kamara can provide further guidance.

Imperial College London: Please refer to Imperial staff travel and expenses guidance. Samira Modaresifar can provide further guidance.

King’s College London: All applications for additional funding associated with overseas travel are now require completion of the following two forms:

1. Submit a Business Travel Authorisation (BTA) request, and
2. Apply for Business Travel Insurance

Both forms are available via Helix. Further information on the policy can be found on the KCL Travel Services internal site. Please follow your local departmental process to obtain the necessary approvals for your BTA and insurance.

Once you have received both approvals, please email them to liss-dtp@kcl.ac.uk.

LISS DTP cannot approve any OIV payments until both the BTA and insurance confirmation emails have been received.

Language Training Extension application form 

Up to 12 months additional support may be considered if a student needs to acquire or develop working ability with a language in order to carry out fieldwork (including UK fieldwork) or other parts of their research; this is over and above the funded length of the studentship. Students following a pre-described Masters course are not eligible to apply during this training.  Any anticipated language training should have been mentioned in the student’s application and project summary or be discussed with the Deputy Director, Training as soon as possible upon commencing the studentship. 

Extensions are additional periods of funded time that are added to your studentship, extending your funding award end date and not your final submission deadline. They recognise the fact that if you are undertaking activities such as difficult language training you will have less time during these periods to undertake your doctoral work.

Language training extensions beyond six months will only be allowed if the student needs to spend an extended period of time overseas in order to obtain these language skills.  If the student has already undertaken a pre-described Masters course, it is expected that some progress with language acquisition will have been made and therefore it is not expected that extensions beyond six months will be made.  Extensions for language training do not automatically attract overseas fieldwork costs.  

Overseas fieldwork costs should only be considered alongside an extension where it is not possible to learn the language outside of the fieldwork site. 

Please see Annex 1 p. 30 of ESRC PGR Funding Guide  for guidance on groupings of languages.