The Alumni Impact Fund: staff applications

Second year palaeontology students will get the opportunity to take part in a week of fossil preparation training during UoB Xtra.

Birmingham is known for its highly distinctive and high-profile research on fossil life such as dinosaurs. Physical preparation of fossils is a core practical skill for palaeontologists, often flagged as of interest by current and potential students. Preparation is a process whereby encasing rock is removed slowly from around a fossil using tools such as pneumatic air pens, allowing a fossil to be used subsequently for research, museum display or commercial purposes.

Although the equipment required for such work is low cost, until recently Birmingham had no facilities (and limited academic expertise) to provide training to students. Our recent purchase of some equipment (air compressor, air pens etc.) has provided a small baseline preparation facility. This project will enable additional equipment to be purchased, enabling the opportunity for our second year students, who will be able to take skills learned through into third year research projects and specialist modules.

Students often note how most opportunities are within London, which isn't realistic, accessible or even desirable for all.

This project will provide an opportunity for 125 students to visit the Senedd, home of the Welsh Parliament in Cardiff, to provide them an alternative perspective on how law-making, and governmental practice is applied in other parts of the UK.

The trip also includes networking with Birmingham alumni to enhance understanding of career opportunities outside of London.

Monday 29 September: Applications open

Tuesday 7 October: Online Alumni Impact Fund information session. At this session you can:

• Find out more about the fund
• Get tips on how to fill out your application effectively

Register your attendance by completing this form 

Tuesday 21 October:  We are hosting a second online information session for those unable to attend on the 7th October. This session may also useful for anyone who has started their application and want to ask any questions or clarification on the process so far.

Register your attendance by completing this form 

9:00 Friday 31 October: Applications close

Week commencing Monday 17 November: Applicants notified of outcome

Please ensure the project is feasible and will go ahead before applying.

To be considered for funding, your project must clearly demonstrate that it:

• Is new and/or innovative and may provide the basis for future activity
• Offers a unique opportunity to enhance teaching, or students' academic activities, on campus and enriches the student experience and aligns with the University’s strategy
• Is not a core Department, School, College or University requirement
• Cannot be funded in any other way
• Has the support of the Head of School/Department, and Head of Estates for any bids that impact on the University's estate
• Must be completed by an agreed date in order to demonstrate immediate impact

Terms and conditions

• This money has been charitably donated to the University by alumni and all projects funded must reflect the spirit of this generosity and the ethos of the University
• Funding cannot be used to support research trips, cover personal travel expenses, catering or alcohol
• We reserve the right to consider the likely expectations of charitable donors about the use of their donation, and will not fund projects that could negatively impact on our future fundraising. We would not, for example, usually fund proselytising activities
• Funding cannot be used with the sole aim of directly supporting another charitable cause
• Only one application will be funded per individual
• All funding must be spent and projects completed by an agreed date
• All successful applicants will be required to complete a short survey once their project is completed

Support students

• We encourage staff to use the fund to support students' employability and we ask that you speak to WorkLink prior to submitting an application, to ensure the costs are valid and the project is viable

Please apply via this form.

Here are just some of the projects that we funded in 2024/25, where we celebrated the University’s 125th anniversary.

Increasing lab experience and research exposure in academia and beyond, delivered by Drs Jean Assender and Nikolas Batis

Thanks to Alumni Impact Funding we were able to put on a weeklong programme of additional hands on laboratory practical experience for 30 Year 1 Biomedical Science students as part of UoBXtra. The programme was particularly targeted at Birmingham Scholars but open to anyone wishing to gain more lab experience and enhance their CV. The lab sessions were focused on a project to develop a new ADHD drug and exposed students to problem solving and critical thinking sessions, as well as a tour of the new Health Innovation centre and the production of an Elevator pitch for their product.

Students who took part shared comments including, “such a great experience” and “it has been a really informative and interesting experience, and it has helped me a lot with improving my skills”.

Community Sponsorship: from research to impact and beyond, delivered by Professor Jenny Phillimore

The funding was used to support the knowledge translation of PhD research into accessible policy outputs. Specifically, it enabled one PhD researcher (Natasha Nicholls) and one undergraduate student (Bethany Rice) to develop a series of policy briefs based on Natasha’s doctoral research.

Bethany shared the following:

‘Working on this project was an incredible opportunity for me. Volunteering with STAR gave me valuable insight into the structural barriers faced by refugees and asylum seekers. Therefore, collaborating with Natasha to develop a set of policy briefs addressing many of these challenges was especially meaningful. With her guidance and support, I significantly improved my research skills, particularly in gathering, analysing and synthesising information from research into relevant policy recommendations. This experience has had a strong impact on my academic development and has helped me consider my future career aspirations in the field of social policy.’

Creating a University of Birmingham Wheelchair Basketball Team delivered by Charlotte Kulidzan

With support from British Wheelchair Basketball, Sport England, the Alumni Impact Fund, and UoB Sport’s Director’s Fund, enough money was raised to purchase 11 brand-new, fully branded wheelchairs, belonging permanently to the University.

This investment means wheelchair basketball is now a sustainable part of the Active Residences programme. Plus, as the chairs are University-owned, they can be used across the wider sports programme. Since the chairs were delivered in May 2025, they’ve already been used for Active Residences sessions, UoB Xtra, Junior Camp, and the University’s 125th anniversary celebrations, each time proving that sport at UOB is truly for everyone and there is a lot of interest in wheelchair sport.

The Active Residences programme was also awarded “Innovation of the Year” at the recent Campus Services Awards in recognition of this work, and of the generosity of all donors who helped make it possible.

For queries relating to the Alumni Impact Fund, please contact Symrun Samria.

For any University of Birmingham Dubai based applicants, please contact Ceri Keeping