Brian Large Bursary Fund
Registered Charity, number 328747
History
Our Awards
The Brian Large Bursary Fund is a Registered Charity, number 328747.
It was established in 1990 by the family, friends and colleagues of Brian Large who died in 1989, far too young.
Brian, a Director of The MVA Group, transport planning consultants, was committed to the professional development of those in the early stages of their careers.
The purpose of the Fund is to continue Brian’s work by helping young UK resident transport planners gain the knowledge they need to become skilled transport professionals.
Initially, reflecting Brian’s interests in travelling, the Fund provided bursaries to support transport Masters students travelling abroad as part of their studies. It also provided funds to support the publication of transport planning books.
For the last two decades, the Trustees have focused on providing bursaries to those studying for a Masters in transport at a UK university and, latterly, on awarding an annual prize, the Voorhees-Large Prize, for the best transport Masters dissertation submitted by a UK resident. Both are awarded to candidates submitted to the Fund by their university; the Trustees do not consider any direct applications or submissions.
The Fund only awards its Masters bursaries and the Voorhees-Large Prize.
Latest News
The Trustees of the Brian Large Bursary Fund are pleased to announce that Tom van Vuren MBE has joined them as a Trustee.
Tom is a Chartered Transport Planning Professional (CTPP) specialising in transport modelling, demand forecasting and appraisal. After completing his PhD at Leeds University and working for a number of consultancies around the world, he started his own modelling and analytics business in 2023. Tom co-chairs the DfT's Joint Analysis Development Panel; he chairs the Modelling World conference, is past Chair of the Board of Directors of the Association for European Transport, an Editorial Board Member of the journal Transportation and the online journal Transport Findings, is a member of the Leeds ITS Advisory Board, served a full term as a Director at the Transport Planning Society and currently chairs the Professional Standards Committee that oversees the Transport Planning Professional accreditation. He was awarded an MBE for services to transport in 2023.
Zeqi Xu has won the 2025 Voorhees-Large Prize, awarded annually for the best Transport Masters dissertation submitted during the year, and worth £1,000.
Zeqi’s dissertation, ‘Modelling of mixed traffic flow of CAVs considering stochasticity and spatial distribution characteristics of vehicles’ was submitted for his Masters in Transport Planning at the Institute for Transport Studies (ITS), University of Leeds.
The Trustees of the Brian Large Bursary Fund awarded five Brian Large Masters Bursaries of £10,800 for the academic year 2026/27. A call for applications for academic year 2027/28 will be made in Spring 2027.
Applicants must have been accepted for a full time Masters course in transport at a UK university for 2027/28. Applicants must be recommended by the Head of Department or Course Supervisor, based on a personal interview with the candidate.