I received an email during the week of some research money that is available through my uni. My question is how do you go about organising/justifying your trip? Did you contact one of the professors in the department of the host uni you like the look of? Did you contact the research centre? Did you try and get on a course for a semester? I'm not planning to do all these things but I'm trying to get a sense of how people on here approach it. For me personally I'm looking for a semester experience at this uni and to use the materials/resources to get a paper out of it.

Also what kind of experiences have people had in terms of applying for research money? How long does it take to come through?

Thanks

I did several research trips abroad, including one long fieldwork trip. I applied and received monies from the AHRC, but also from my Uni on separate occasions. In my experience you can claim travel expenses, monies for library and archival material (e.g. digital copies etc.), courses, workshops that you want to atttend, and accommodation, but for obvious reasons you are unlikely to receive monies for meals.
As I said, in my case they were fieldwork trips that involved archival research, and thus they were directly related to the thesis, but you can obtain funding to study a language or for any kind of specific training if you demonstrate that it is essential for your research. Funding is usually very limited, so you need to budget carefully for it and demonstrate that the trip is relevant for your project. The process is usually pretty quick, in my case I had the results within 4 to 6 weeks. Good Luck!

I have only applied for money to go to conferences which I think works on the same principle where you apply to different societies that you are a member of for funding by filling in an application form with what you propose to do with the money - e.g. study trip abroad and work out the cost of everything. Most places will not give you all that you ask for so you generally have to show that you have applied or will apply elsewhere as well. Including what the outcome of the trip abroad is a good way to finish the application as they like to see that their money is well spent so producing a paper where you will acknowledge the funding body is a definite bonus!

I have found the amount of time it takes depends on who you apply to. If it's a departmental fund it's usually fairly quick but if it's a uni or an external funding body/society they make take several months for a decision. Some funding bodies/societies allow you to submit a claim in after you've been to an event within a certain time limit (e.g. 3 months).