UKSG is pleased to offer two main awards and bursaries:
- International Professional Development UKSG Award
- Sponsored Places for the Annual Conference and Exhibition
International Professional Development UKSG Award
Formerly the Merriman Award (named in honour of John Merriman, in recognition of his work in founding both UKSG and NASIG) the International Professional Development Award will enable one lucky winner will have the chance to attend both the UKSG Annual Conference and a similar international events. The award is intended to cover travel and accommodation costs and each award recipient will receive paid conference registration and reasonable travel expenses for both events. In addition to the in-person conferences the winner had free access to any UKSG event in the year it is awarded. .
Sponsored Places for the Annual Conference and Exhibition
Every year, UKSG offers free places for students and professionals working as librarians, publishers or intermediaries in member organisations to attend its Annual Conference. The deadline for applications has now passed.
This year we are delighted to be able to increase the number of sponsored places, and have chosen the broaden the criteria for applications, in addition to students and early career professionals, we would also like to hear from people who haven’t had an opportunity to attend the conference before and people who can bring a voice or perspective that is underrepresented within our sector.
Benefits of attending include:
- learning about the newest developments in scholarly communications from librarians, publishers and intermediaries.
- discovering some of the latest products and services available to information professionals
- networking and sharing experiences with colleagues from the global scholarly communications sector.
The successful applicants attending over the last few years have, without exception, found the experience both valuable and enjoyable. Given the challenges that all members of the information community currently face, and the continuing rapid pace of change, the opportunity to attend the UKSG Annual Conference is both exciting and highly relevant to those seeking employment or advancing their careers in the near future.
The award covers the cost of attendance at the conference, including all meals, entertainment and accommodation. In return for the sponsorship, winners are required to submit a report of the conference, which will be considered for publication in UKSG eNews. Travel expenses up to a certain amount are refunded on presentation of the report.
Unsure about applying? Catch up with previous bursary winners on the UKSG podcast 👉 https://lnkd.in/eGM73JM2.
Watch our video here and apply here.
Image created by Louise Barrett, University of Southampton Library, winner of one of the 2026 bursaries.
Other Awards
A number of student bursaries for the UKSG Forum are also offered each year.