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DMM Conference Travel Grants

General guidelines:

  • Maximum funding is set at £400 within the home country and at £600 for meetings overseas.
  • The amount given depends on demand and may provide only a portion of the requested funding.
  • Applicants who are presenting talks or displaying posters might be looked on more favourably than those who are not.
  • DMM does not fund applications made retrospectively, so please submit your application in good time.
  • DMM reserves the right to reject applications to attend conferences or workshops that it considers to be possibly ‘predatory’ in design. We strongly encourage applicants to judge the legitimacy and credentials of conferences to help decide whether or not to attend. The Think.Check.Attend  initiative might be useful in this regard.
  • The date of travel must occur within six months of funding being awarded.
  • Unsuccessful applicants may not submit a new application within 12 months of their initial application unless otherwise advised to by the Grants Administrator.
  • Applicants should not have received other funding from The Company of Biologists in the past 12 months.
  • Funding of multiple applications from the same lab or department will be limited, and it is likely that only one will be awarded each round.

Guidelines for completing the application:

  • The application and all supporting documents must be completed in English.
  • It is your responsibility to ensure that you meet the criteria required for a grant.
  • Expenses include registration fees, travel, subsistence, accommodation and visa fees. Travel insurance costs are not to be included in the expenses.

Please upload the following documents to your application (note: all letters of support must be in English, on headed paper and signed).

  • For PhD students and post-doctoral researchers: a supporting letter from your supervisor confirming your status.
  • For independent group leaders and PIs: a supporting letter from your Head of Department confirming that no independent funding is available to attend meetings and courses.
  • A short justification for your proposal outlining why you should be awarded the grant.
  • A copy of any abstract submitted to the meeting or conference for which funding is requested.
  • Curriculum Vitae.

Terms and conditions for successful applicants:

  • Support from DMM and The Company of Biologists should be acknowledged in any presentations given or posters displayed at the meeting or course (logo will be supplied).
  • Any unspent funds must be returned within one month of the end of the travel.
  • If for any reason you do not attend the conference, workshop or course, please email dmmtravelgrants@biologists.com. Please also arrange for the funds to be returned, in full.
  • Successful applicants will be required to keep all of the receipts related to the visit to upload on the via the online application portal on your return.
  • Successful applicants will be required to provide a 250-word meeting report and at least two bright, clear photographs.
  • We may use material from your report on our website, in social media, and in other promotional materials. If you have any concerns about the use of your material, please let us know in advance.

Deadline dates, applicant handbook and FAQs

DMM will consider applications to attend virtual and online scientific meetings, conferences, workshops and training courses.

Deadline dates for applications:

2024 and 2025

  • 30 August 2024 (for travel after 14 October 2024*)
  • 1 November 2024 (for travel after 9 December 2024*)
  • 28 February 2025 (for travel after 14 April 2025*)
  • 30 May 2025 (for travel after 21 July 2025*)
  • 29 August 2025 (for travel after 13 October 2025*)
  • 1 October 2025 (for travel after 8 December 2025*)

*Decisions announced on this date

Our applicant handbooks provide useful information on the process.  Please click on DMM Travelling Grant applicant handbook to download.

If I am awarded a DMM Conference Travel Grant, will I get the funding before I go?

Yes, we pay the funds directly into your personal bank account once the award has been granted.

I assume any amount of money that I can’t explain with receipts will have to be returned?

Yes, we do require evidence for every expense incurred and paid.

Do supporting letters have to be signed?

Yes, all supporting letters must be on headed paper with a signature, scanned and uploaded with your application.

What information needs to be included in the Letter of Status from my Supervisor
(PhD/post-doc applicants) 

The Letter of Status must include who you are, describe the work you are doing and how long you have been at that institution.

or (Group leader/PI applicants)?

Letter of support from your Head of Department confirming that no independent funding is available to attend the meeting/course.

Is it acceptable to complete the application with estimated costs for expenses as I don’t know the exact costs at this stage?

Yes, that is acceptable, as you will be required to provide evidence of expenditure and return unspent funds.

Can I apply for a DMM Conference Travel Grant retrospectively?

No, we do not award funds for travel that has already occurred.

Will I have an answer about the result of my application even if it is negative?

Yes, you will be notified even if your application is unsuccessful.

 

About Scientific Meeting Grants

The Company of Biologists uses the surplus it generates for the benefit of biology and the biological community by providing funding to organisers of meetings, workshops, conferences and summer schools in the fields covered by our journals.

Think.Check.Attend

Stories

You can find stories from grant recipients on our stories page.

Exploring Skin Cancer Molecular Mechanisms: a Travel Grant experience at the Gordon Research Conference

10 August 2023

Darshan Mehta attending the Gordon Research Conference, posing for a photograph next to his research poster

Darshan Mehta is a PhD student studying the mechanisms behind skin cancer at the Tata Memorial Centre Kharghar, Navi Mumbai, India. He took the opportunity to use a Conference Travel Grant from Disease Models & Mechanisms to travel to the 2023 Gordon Research Conference (GRC) on Stem Cells and Cancer – a meeting intended to explore cutting-edge research in the field of cell biology and cancer.


Visit our journal websites

Development Journal of Cell Science The Journal of Experimental Biology Disease Models & Mechanisms Biology Open

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