APPLICATION DEADLINES FOR 2021: 

The scheme has now re-opened and we will be running four application rounds until the end of the year as follows:

• 31 March 2021- for activities taking place after  1 May 2021
• 30 June 2021 - for activities taking place after  1 August 2021
• 30 September 2021 - for activities taking place after  1 November 2021 
• 31 December 2021 - for activities taking place after  1 February 2022

APPLICATION DEADLINES FOR 2022:

Decisions on travel grant applications will be made four times a year after the following deadlines:

• 31 March  for travel after  1 May
• 30 June    for travel after  1 August
• 30 September  for travel after  1 November
• 31 December  for travel after  1 February

Submit your applications as far as possible in advance. If your conference or meeting is in November, you don’t have to wait until 30 September to apply, you can send us your application before the March or June deadlines.

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

To be eligible for The COB travel grant:

• You must be a student or early career scientist member of SEB
• You must be in the second consecutive year of membership or pay for a multi-year membership when joining, if you qualify for it 
• You must not have received funding from the Company COB  in the past 12 months 
• Your research needs to be within SEB's remit. This is restricted to the subject areas that are covered by our activities  (animal,  plant    and      cell      biology  ). Research directly related to medicine is precluded as it is better funded than most biological disciplines.
• Your travel/ activity date must occur at least 1 month after the application deadline for the quarter
• The maximum funding award is £250 for travel within home country and £500 for overseas travel
• The maximum funding award for attending virtual conferences and training is £250
• Applications from scientists who are presenting at a conference or meeting are looked on more favourably than those who are not presenting
• If demand outstrips supply, priority will be given to: applicants from low- and middle- income countries as specified by The World Bank and applicants who are incurring travel costs. 

JUDGING CRITERIA

Applications will be judged using a points-based system. Please see our judging criteria and scoring system here.  

In the event that demand out-strips supply, preference will be given to:

• Members from low-income, and middle-income economies as defined by The World Bank according to their 2021 report (datahelpdesk.worldbank.org)
• Applicants who are incurring travel costs 

HOW TO APPLY

Please have the following documents (in PDF format) ready to attach with your application:

• Two reference letters (one will need to be from your supervisor)
• A letter from your university administration or head of department confirming your student or early career scientist status

As part of the application form you will also need to provide:

• A justification outlining how the conference/event/training course/lab exchange visit/field trip is relevant to your research and how it relates to future professional goals and current research interests (see judging criteria)
• An abstract on your research or on the presentation that you are intending to give (see judging criteria for details on how this aspect will be judged)
• A breakdown of expected costs (see judging criteria for details on how this aspect will be judged)

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

If your application is successful:

• Claim your award within three months of the award notification date
• Funds can only be used for the meeting/research trips/workshop that you applied for
• Grant recipients who claimed their award but did not attend the event will be required to repay the grant in full
• You must acknowledge the SEB in any presentation you give. Download the  SEB logo   and  The Company of Biologists logo   for this purpose
• After your trip, you must send us electronic copies of your receipts to show how you spent the grant
• We also require that you write a report of your trip upon your return and return this to us together with pictures from your trip. Your report may be published in the Travels with My Grant section of the SEB Magazine (website and print).
• Grant holders are required to turn any part of the Grant that has not been spent when the Grant Activities have been completed
• Please complete our Travel Grant Form