Costs and deadlines

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For summer 2023, the fees for the Astypalaia Field School were 4200 UK pounds, payable in advance to University College London.  The deadline for payment is 10 April and detailed instructions are provided with the welcome pack when students accept the offer of a place on the field school.  If for any reason (including the Covid 19 pandemic) the Field School is cancelled, UCL will refund the fees in full.  Because of financial commitments, it is not normally possible for students to withdraw from the school after payment of fees but in case of medical or personal emergency it may be possible to refund part of the fees.

Fees cover the running costs of the laboratory, consumables and teaching materials, teaching and supervision, staffing and support, administration, tools and equipment for students, accommodation throughout their full time on Astypalaia, meals on work days (6 days per week), daily transport to work, transfers to and from Astypalaia airport/ferry port to accommodations.  Students do not need to bring any laboratory or archaeological equipment with them.  Clean towels and sheets are regularly provided in the accommodations.

The fees do not cover student travel to the island of Astypalaia or travel medical insurance, so students must budget for those as well.  We require evidence of comprehensive travel medical insurance because Astypalaia is quite isolated and the public health service in Greece is under pressure.  It is absolutely essential for the insurance to include cover for the Covid 19 pandemic, so this will need checking carefully.  Insurance can cost up to 150 US dollars but many universities provide travel cover for their students.  Flights from Athens to Astypalaia are currently 220 Euros (235 US dollars varying with exchange rate) return and international flights from, for example, USA eastern seaboard to Athens might be about 2000 US dollars.  There would be additional costs for overnight stops in Athens, or travel in Greece before and after the field school but that varies greatly depending on travel plans.  Do not book any travel until you are certain that you have a place, that your fee payment has been confirmed and after that have received a final email confirmation that the Field School will definitely run.  Unforeseen events can happen and it would not be possible for the project to refund travel costs.

Students will also need to budget for any shopping, visits to a cafe in the evening, snacks, and meals on their days off on Astypalaia, none of which is covered by the fees.  150 US dollars worth of Euros would be more than enough for the meals and a further 200 dollars would cover most other eventualities.  There may, however, be additional costs in some years.