Frequently asked questions

For academic year 2024-25, each university and college in Scotland will receive £3,000 of funding to support engagement with STEP. It is up to individual institutions to determine the most appropriate use of these funds, but indicative uses are to:

• cover travel and subsistence for attendance of STEP Network members, or alternative institutional representative, at Discovery Days or other in-person STEP events (Note: Not to cover attendance at STEP Steering Group or STEP Topic Leadership Group meetings as these are funded separately) 
• support the creation and implementation of internal mechanisms to embed STEP institutionally, for example, an institutional STEP team 
• recognise student contribution in engaging with STEP work, for example, contributing to project proposal development outside of Discovery Days 
• run internal events to raise awareness of STEP and the STEP topic such as staff and student conferences or events 
• support institutional work relating to the STEP topic. 

In addition, a per diem payment of £100 is to be paid to each student member of the STEP Network for attendance at each of the Discovery Days (that is, £400 per student member over the first year). This will be paid to the institution along with the £3,000, and it is the responsibility of each institution to pay their student STEP Network members directly (recognising that there may be different mechanisms for doing this in different institutions). 

Claiming the funds

QAA will issue a contract to each institution for £3,400 by 30 November 2024. £2,000 of funds will be paid upon receipt of a copy of this contract signed by Principal/VC or equivalent, and submission of an invoice to QAA. A further £1,400 will be paid on receipt of a completed evaluation report, outlining institutional engagement with STEP in year 1. A template of this report will be made available by 31 January 2025, and the completed template will be due to QAA by 30 June 2025.