Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is the purpose of the awards?
   The purpose of the awards is to provide financial support for practitioners and students for the purpose of improving their knowledge of the visual and applied arts, architecture and the history of art, or to provide them with funding for projects for the advancement of education and research in the visual and applied arts.
2. What is the maximum award per applicant?
   The maximum award is €5,000.
3. What qualifies me to apply?
   Applicants must be either (a) students registered at an Irish (Northern or Southern) third level educational institution, or (b) practitioners of the visual or applied arts or design who may be based in Ireland or elsewhere. Students registered at third level institutions outside Ireland, even if formerly registered at Irish universities, are NOT eligible to apply. There is no age limit.
4. How must I make my application?
   Solely by on-line web application at https://www.thomasdammanntrust.ie
5. What are the criteria used by the Trustees?
   The criteria include but are not limited to applications which in the opinion of the Trustees (a) are interesting, novel, and important (b) will contribute significantly to the applicant’s intellectual and personal development, and/or (c) would not receive sufficient or any funding otherwise.
6. What costs will the Trustees NOT consider funding?
   The Trust will NOT consider applications for funding for conference fees, costs of attending conferences, costs of rental of studio space, purchase of materials or equipment, or costs of work placements.
7. Can I make a group or class application?
   In general, no. The Trustees will not give awards for joint or class projects, though the Trustees reserve the right to depart from this condition in exceptional circumstances.
8. Do I need a referee to support my application, and what does the referee have to do?
   Yes, every applicant must nominate an appropriately qualified person to act as referee who provides the Trustees by webform a confidential indication of the merit of the project, and the likelihood of its successful completion. The on-line application filled in by every candidate will ask for the name, institution and email address of the person they propose as referee. (Applicants must take special care to get the referee's work email address absolutely right.) On receipt of the application, the Trust’s website system generates an automatic request by email to the email address given for the referee. This email asks the referee to provide the Trust with information about the applicant and his or her project. The applicant must take responsibility for ensuring the referee has been properly asked to give the reference, and knows what is expected, and files the reference before the closing date and time.
   It is the applicant’s responsibility to liaise with the referee after submitting his or her application. Thus the applicant should check that the referee has in fact received the automatically generated email requesting the reference, and will respond to it before the closing date. If for some reason, the referee has not received the automatically generated email from the Trust, it is the applicant’s responsibility to notify the Trust of this by use of the “contact us” section of the email, or in emergencies, contact the helpline. Thereafter, the applicant must liaise with the referee, to ensure the reference reaches the Trust by the deadline.
9. When is the closing date for the 2025 competition?
   All applications must be submitted on or before 6 pm GMT on Friday 7th February 2025. Late applications will not be accepted. References must be added by 6 pm GMT on Friday 21st February 2025. A late reference will void the application.
10. How and when will successful applicants be notified?
    Successful applicants will be notified by email by the end of April 2025. (If you have not heard from the Trust, you must assume that you have been unsuccessful, and should perhaps consider getting advice on your application, changing it, and resubmitting a modified application for the following year’s competition.) Please don’t ring or email or write to ask us whether you were successful because you haven’t heard. We will notify successful candidates.
11. What must successful applicants do to show they have fulfilled the terms of the award?
    If you have been successful, you must complete and submit a short report on the project carried out. This will prompt you to define what you consider to be the benefits you have gained from completing the project, your evaluation of the project’s contribution to knowledge or state of the art, your research findings, and where relevant, where your project may or will be published/exhibited, or otherwise taken further. Where your project is, for example, paintings, photographs, videos or designs, your report must describe the project’s process, the benefits you consider you gained from completing the project, your evaluation of the project’s contribution to the state of the art, where the project may or will be published/exhibited, or otherwise taken further, and particulars of any reviews, comments etc.. You must submit the report by 4th October 2025.
12. Is there any appeal from the decision of the Trustees?
    No. The decision of the Trustees is final. No feedback can be given, and please do not ask for same. The Trust prefers to devote as much of its funds as possible to awards, not to admin, so we have no full time employees and no paid Trustees