Global South Scholar Fund
The same work, at a price that reflects where you are.
A 30% subsidy on every service and every tier, for researchers whose institutions do not fund work like this. Assessed by a person, applied before you pay, and never mentioned to anybody else.
What it is
30% off, on everything.
A published rate rather than a vague offer of flexibility, because a scholar deciding whether to read on needs to know whether the number could possibly work.
Who it is for
- Researchers at institutions in low- and middle-income countries, as ordinarily defined by the World Bank classification.
- Researchers anywhere whose institution provides no research or professional-development budget they can access for this.
- Doctoral candidates who are self-funding, or funded at a level that does not cover professional support.
- Scholars displaced from their institution by conflict, disaster or political circumstance.
If you are unsure whether you qualify, ask. The check costs us a short email and costs you nothing.
What it is not
- We do not ask for bank statements, payslips or evidence of hardship.
- We do not ask you to explain your personal finances to a stranger.
- We do not publish who received it, and it is not mentioned in any correspondence with a co-author, supervisor or institution.
- We do not treat a subsidised engagement differently — same specialist, same turnaround, same guarantees.
How to apply
What actually happens.
Four steps, three working days, and no form to download.
01
Tell us what you need and where you are
One email. The service you are looking at, your institution, your role, and what the work is. You do not need a formal application letter and there is no form to download.
02
We check affiliation and funding
A person confirms your institutional affiliation from a staff or student page, an institutional email address or a supervisor who can vouch, and asks what funding is available to you for this. That second question is the real one: the fund is about access, not geography alone.
03
You get a decision in writing, within three working days
Approved, or not, with the reason. If it is not, we will tell you what else is available — including the free tools, which need no application at all.
04
The subsidy is applied before you pay
You are sent a payment route with the reduced figure already on it. There is no code to enter, nothing to claim back afterwards, and no moment where you pay full price and hope.
Start here
Write to contact@xp-consulting.org with the subject line Scholar Fund. Tell us which service you are looking at, your institution and role, and what funding you have access to. That is the whole application.
Why it works this way
No code, and a person in the loop.
Two design decisions that cost us conversions and are the reason the fund can exist at this rate.
There is no promotion code
A code can be found, shared, and used by anybody. Every use by somebody who does not need it takes money directly from somebody who does. So the fund has no code — eligibility is confirmed by a person, and the reduced figure is on the payment route you are sent.
The rate is published, not negotiated
Everybody eligible gets the same 30%. Nobody has to ask for more, argue their case, or wonder whether somebody else got a better deal for being more persistent about it.
A subsidised engagement is the same engagement: the same specialist, the same turnaround and the same commitments. There is no lesser tier of care attached to a lesser price.
Quick answers
Questions about the fund
Which services does it apply to?
All of them, at every tier — diagnostics, sprints, and the multi-month engagements. There is no cheaper tier you are steered towards and no exclusion list. Institutional scope is the one exception, and only because a department buying for its staff is a different situation from a researcher buying for themselves.
Is it means-tested?
Not in the way that phrase usually means. We confirm your institutional affiliation and ask what funding is available to you for this work. We do not ask for bank statements, payslips or an account of your personal circumstances, and nobody has to make a case for deserving it.
Why is there no code I can enter?
Because a code can be found, shared and used by anybody, and every use by somebody who does not need it takes money from somebody who does. Eligibility is confirmed by a person before you are sent anywhere near a card field. It is slower by two or three days and it is the reason the fund can exist at the rate it does.
What if I am not eligible?
You will be told plainly, with the reason, rather than left waiting. Two things on this site are free and need no application at all: the Momentum writing tracker and the Scholar’s Vault. Neither is a lesser version of anything — they are simply free.