Purpose of the OIV Scheme

The OIV scheme supports visits to educational institutions around the world.. Visits must be to 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 for activities such as:

• undertake additional specialist research training not available in the UK
• develop language skills
• establish research links that will be beneficial to their current or future academic career
• disseminate early research career findings
• attend and participate in seminars where directly relevant to their research.

Timings

• OIVs must start after the first 3 months of your studentship.
• OIVs must finish at least 3 months before your funding end date (prior to the extension period being implemented).
• Maximum length: 3 months (13 weeks) in total.

Restrictions and Eligibility

• Stipends can be extended for up to a maximus of 3 months (13 weeks).
• Applications must be student-led.
• Brief statements of support are required from both the student’s PhD supervisor, DGS, and the host institution at the application stage to ensure accountability for the use of funding.
• Only one OIV application can be made during the studentship period.
• Visit should relate directly to your PhD.
• Eligible students: +3 component only (not the Master’s year of a 1+3 award)
• Not for overseas fieldwork (covered separately), but can be scheduled immediately before/after fieldwork.
• Must involve a Higher Education institution or organisation with a substantive research office outside the UK.
• Destination must be deemed safe by the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO).

Application Process

OIV application deadlines: 1st working Monday of January, April, June, and October. If your OIV opportunity does not fit in with the application deadlines, please contact liss-dtp@kcl.ac.uk.

Before the Visit (Application Stage)

1. Plan early: applications should be made at least 3 months before your OIV start date.
2. Discuss your plans with your supervisory team before submission.
3. Supervisor & DGS Statement of Support: All applications for OIV funding must be accompanied by a written statement of support from the student’s primary PhD supervisor and the DGS. Thse statements should confirm: the relevance of the proposed visit to the student’s doctoral research and training; the student’s readiness to benefit from the visit; how the visit aligns with the overall PhD training plan.
4. Host Institution Statement of Support: A formal statement from the host academic/institution is also required, confirming: the value of the proposed visit for the student’s research; the resources, facilities, and/or expertise that will be made available; the host’s commitment to supporting the student during their stay
5. Submit your OIV application form
6. We aim to communicate decisions on the outcome of OIV applications within 2 weeks of the application deadline.

After the Visit (Reporting Stage)

• After your visit: Complete the OIV report. Please note that feedback from PhD supervisor and Host is also required for reporting purposes.

Note on Statements of Support and Feedback: As Overseas Institutional Visits are funded through ESRC resources, it is essential to evidence the academic value and outcomes of each visit. For this reason, brief statements of support are required from both the student’s PhD supervisor, DGS, and the host institution at the application stage. Additionally short feedback is required from PhD supervisor and host after the visit. These requirements are designed to be proportionate and not unduly burdensome, but they are necessary to ensure accountability for the use of funding and to demonstrate the benefits of the scheme for doctoral training.

Institutional Travel Policies

Students must follow the travel policies for their home institution when booking travel:

Queen Mary University of London: Please see: Queen Mary Finance Guide for LISS Students. QMUL LISS Administrator Angela Kamara can offer further guidance.

Imperial College London students: Imperial staff travel and expenses. Imperial LISS Administrator Samira Modaresifar can offer further guidance.

KCL Students: Important Update for Business Travel Policy: As of June 2025, King’s College London has introduced a new Business Travel Policy that applies to all staff and students undertaking travel for university-related purposes. 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. The required documents must be the Helix email titled ‘Can we help you further?’, which includes the full details of your Business Travel Authorisation and Travel Insurance requests.

LISS DTP cannot process 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 award end date but 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.