Mead Fellowships

Scott Mead and The Mead Family Foundation have generously supported the Mead Fellowship Awards since 2013. Scott is a fine art photographer, philanthropist and investor, based in London for over 20 years.

Careers and Employability manage the awards, as part of its work supporting UAL students and graduates to make a living doing what they love.

If you'd like to find out more about previous awardees we have stories on the past 2 cohorts:

• 2020 Mead Fellowship awardees
• 2021 Mead Fellowship awardees.

The Mead Awards are committed to reflecting student diversity at all stages of its decision-making processes. As well as being experienced creatives, the panellists and judges we invite to participate are diverse in terms of age, caring responsibilities, disability, race and ethnicity, gender, and sexuality. We're committed to helping to create a diverse cultural sector.

List of people who sit on the Mead Fellowships shortlisting and judging panels.

Mead Awards don't provide scholarships or any funding for study or course fees. Careers and Employability do have other funding and scholarships available and UAL has advice on Student Fees and Funding.

The Mead Fellowship 2023 award is now closed. The next application date for Fellowships is February 2024

Mead Fellowships are designed to help UAL alumni develop and launch their creative practice. You can apply with a proposal for any arts project which adds something new to your industry or discipline, and has a positive impact on your own practice.

You can apply for funding of up to £10,000.

Your proposal must be for a single arts project (or piece of research), which will be undertaken independently, after graduation. It must be completed within the period from September to July.

This must be a new project. It cannot be a continuation of a project you started as part of your course and cannot be completed as part of any postgraduate or other courses.

You may apply in your final year of study at UAL, on any of these courses: BA, BSc, MA, MSc, MRes, PgDip or PhD. You may also apply if you graduated from any of these courses at UAL in the previous year.

The awards aren't open to students on UAL Foundation, Short Courses, Diplomas or PG Certs, or anyone currently employed by UAL (with the exception of ArtsTemps).

The Mead Awards team will help you learn and reflect through the application process. We offer to email a short piece of individual feedback to all applicants, at each stage. This tells you the main points from the shortlisting panel’s discussions and highlights areas you could strengthen in future submissions. It is designed to help you create future proposals, pitches and funding applications.

Your arts project can be in any creative discipline studied at UAL. Projects are selected across these 11 subject areas, and across all UAL Colleges:

• AI, digital and interactive design
• Architecture/interiors, spaces, conservation
• Fashion, design, tailoring, production
• Fine Art, 2D, 3D, photography
• Visual comms, graphics, illustration media, journalism
• Film, TV, animation, sound
• Product, industrial, 3D, jewellery, textiles, materials
• Theatre, design, performance, acting, directing, writing
• Research (MRes/PhD)
• Business/management/enterprise, MBA
• Culture, Criticism, Curation.

Before you apply

Watch our webinars :

• Webinar 1 - Introduction to the Mead Fellowships
• Webinar 2 - Completing Your Application
• Webinar 3 - General Guidelines

Download all the webinar slides for the 2023 Mead Fellowships (PDF 3.1 MB)

Look at our online module Planning Your Creative project (sign into Moodle using your student log in, to access the course)

Online Q&A drop-ins

Got a question? When you have looked at all the guides, feel free to attend one of our 1-hour online Q&A drop-ins and ask your question:

Application process

Stage 1: Next deadline 09:00 (UK time) on February 2024

1. Download the Mead Fellowships 2023 Project Proposal form (this link will be available in December 2023).

2. Upload your completed Project Proposal here (this link will be available in December 2023).

20-30 applications will be shortlisted to go through to Stage 2.

Stage 2: 20-30 shortlisted applicants are invited to complete a fuller proposal

Stage 3: the Mead Fellowships pitch

The Mead Fellowships pitch is in June. Finalists give a short presentation about their project. This is followed by a brief Q&A session with the Mead Awards judges.

What can Mead Fellowships be used for?

All costs must be related specifically to the project.

For example, your project may require purchases such as:

• Art materials and making costs (including fees for engaging extra artists/makers)
• Professional development and training
• Specialist expertise and advice
• Software, web hosting, web design costs
• Licences and permissions
• Small items of equipment
• Promotional and marketing costs, printing
• Exhibition space, venue hire
• Language-related costs (for example translation services)
• Travel and related costs (note: overnight accommodation is only permitted where absolutely necessary)
• Essential books and publications.

Fellowships might be used for:

• Workspace/studio rental
• Subsistence allowances (you will have to prove that this is absolutely essential to the completion of the project).

The awards cannot be used to pay for:

• Tuition fees*
• Living expenses*
• Capital purchases (for example major equipment, vehicles, property ownership)
• Elective study, degree placements and/or internships.

Applicants are required to provide a strong case for their whole budget.

Winners will have to provide evidence of where the award has been spent.

* For information about fees and grants see Student Fees and Funding.

General Fellowship guidelines

• Applications are open to individuals irrespective of their nationality or country of residence.
• The awards are not open to students on UAL Foundation, Short Courses, Diplomas or PG Certs.
• You cannot apply if you are currently employed by UAL (with the exception of Artstemps).
• Please note recipients of the AHRC Scholarships are not eligible to apply, due to the terms and conditions set out by AHRC.
• Only 1 application is permitted per named applicant. However, applicants can be named as part of a team in another submission.
• Fellowships are not offered for the completion of a project which was started during study at UAL (though the proposal may be for a totally new project which is a development on previous projects).
• At each stage, the judges’ decision is final and correspondence will not be entered into.
• Late or incomplete applications will not be considered.