It is important for aspiring researchers to be able to see where they and their research fit in the wider archaeological picture. Conferences and events are often a great way to meet people doing similar or complementary work but can often be expensive for students to attend. As part of our commitment to fostering new research, ScARF has a number of bursaries available each year that are designed to help students and ECR’s with the costs of attending workshops and conferences.
We can help fund attendance at events where they are either directly relevant to an aspect of Scottish archaeological research, or the student should be presenting some aspect of their research into Scottish archaeology at a broader themed conference.
In return for ScARF covering the conference fee/stipend towards travel, bursary recipients are usually expected to write a short report on their experience of the conference or a case study summarising their research in Scottish archaeology. The full series of ScARF supported student reports can be found here.
To apply, please send an email with details of the conference you would like to attend, along with a short supporting statement explaining why it would benefit your studies and how it relates to Scottish archaeological research questions. We may also ask for a short letter written by a referee to support your application.
Latest ScARF bursaries
2025/2026 Conferences
We are happy to offer bursaries to cover registration, travel and accommodation costs for conferences taking place in Scotland, including the Scottish Student’s Archaeology Society Conference (SSASC), Tayside and Fife Archaeology Conference (TAFAC) and the Edinburgh, Lothians and Borders Archaeology Conference (ELBAC).
If you’d like to attend an upcoming conference and need help to cover the costs, please get in touch with us!
SIRFA Symposium, Orkney
As part of our dedication to supporting students and Early Career Researchers in Scottish Archaeology, we were happy to offer 10 bursaries for the SIRFA Symposium in Orkney. The 10 recipients were offered travel and accommodation fees for the event, as well as the opportunity to undertake the crucial role of documenting the discussion sessions and feeding their overall findings back to the 130 delegates at the end of each day.
Their detailed notes, recordings and summaries will be utilised in the final stages of the SIRFA project, and will allow for a deeper understanding of the key archaeological research questions and gaps identified in the history of Scotland’s islands.
Previous bursaries awarded:
- Archaeological Research in Progress, Edinburgh 2025
- Scottish Student’s Archaeology Society Conference, Edinburgh 2025
- Scottish Student’s Archaeology Society Conference, Glasgow 2024
- Theoretical Archaeology Group (TAG44), Norwich 2023
- Scottish Archaeological Forum, Aberdeen 2023
- Computer Applications in Archaeology UK (CAA), Edinburgh 2023
- Edinburgh, Lothians and Borders Archaeology Conference, Edinburgh 2023
- Tayside and Fife Archaeology Conference, Dundee 2023
- Auld Alliance Association, Tours, France, 2023
- SIRFA Symposium, Orkney 2023
- Scottish Student’s Archaeology Society Conference, Aberdeen 2023
- Theoretical Archaeology Group (TAG43), Edinburgh 2022
- Association of Environmental Archaeologists, Glasgow 2022
- 19th Viking Congress, 2022
- Covid-19 Student Research Bursary, Glencoe 2021
- Society of Medieval Archaeologists‘ Student colloquium, Exeter 2019
- Scotland’s Island Research Framework for Archaeology (SIRFA) Symposium, Shetland 20th – 23rd September 2019
- Perth and Kinross Archaeological Research Framework (PKARF) ‘Priorities in Progress’ Conference, 30th August 2019
- PAGES Landcover 6k Workshop: “Land-use and land-cover for Climate Modelling” Hemmenhofen, Germany, 28th-30th January 2019
- Scotland’s Island Research Framework for Archaeology (SIRFA) Symposium, Western Isles 7th – 11th January 2019
- Association of Environmental Archaeologists Conference 2017
- 7th Developing International Geoarchaeology conference, University of Newcastle, Newcastle, 4th -7th September 2017
- Rural settlement: relating buildings, landscape, and people in the European Iron Age conference at the University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, June 19th to 21st 2017
- Europa 2016: Dynamics of Art, design and Vision in Iron Age Europe, Edinburgh
- Nordic Research Network conference 2016 ‘Bridges Between: Norse and Insular Worlds’, Glasgow
- 8th International Symposium on 14C & Archaeology, Edinburgh
- The 19th Iron Age Research Student Symposium (IARSS), Leicester
- Archaeomalacology Working Group Meeting at AEA2016, Orkney
- Association of Environmental Archaeologists Conference 2016, Kirkwall, Orkney
- Archaeology of Argyll symposium, Kilmartin. November 2015
- Cramond Roman Fort: 60 Years of Excavation and Research conference, Edinburgh. October 2015 (notes can be viewed here).