Members can participate in scientific conferences, training courses or lab visits to learn new techniques with our General Travel Grants.
Available to Postgraduate, Early Career, Full and Emeritus members, we provide grants of generally between £300 and £500 to assist with the cost of conference attendance.
The maximum of £750 may be awarded for exceptional and well-supported cases where the benefit to the applicants career is great and where there is a financial need for the maximum grant amount.
Please note that in order to protect both staff and members, the Biochemical Society Council of Trustees has taken the difficult decision to postpone our face-to-face scientific meetings and training events until October 2021. To this end, the Society is unable to offer grants support for in-person activities taking place before 1 October 2021. Grants for virtual events are still available before this date.
Application deadlines
Applications are considered seven times a year, the deadlines for which are:
- 1 January for conferences after 1 February
- 1 March for conferences after 1 April
- 1 May for conferences after 1 June
- 1 June for conferences after 1 July
- 1 July for conferences after 1 August
- 1 September for conferences after 1 October
- 1 November for conferences after 1 December
Applications can be submitted early, up to six months before the conference date. For example, applications for a July conference can be submitted in the January deadline.
Please note the outcome of applications will be sent to applicants three to four weeks after the application deadline of the round that has been applied to.
In light of current global travel restrictions, members are also welcome to apply for a General Travel Grant to attend virtual meetings and courses to assist with the costs of their participation. If a member were to receive a General Travel Grant for a virtual event, this would not affect their eligibility to apply for another GTG within the next 2 years (provided they do not exceed a maximum of £750 in total funding within the 2 year period). Please see the eligibility criteria below:
Important note: Predatory conferences
Presenting your work at a conference is an excellent way to share your research and raise your profile in the scientific community. But there is a growing problem to look out for—predatory conferences. Much like predatory journals, predatory conferences seek to charge high registration fees while offering little value in return for attendees and presenters.
The Biochemical Society will only consider member grant applications for organisation or attendance of meetings believed to be genuine.
Some tips on how to distinguish a predatory conference from a genuine one can be found here:
Key grant details
To be eligible to apply:
- Applicants need to have been a member for at least the 12 months prior to the deadline on the closing date of the round applied to. If you are not a member, join today. Members that have joined as multiyear members are eligible to apply for a General Travel Grant after six months of membership has elapsed.
- Applicants must not have received one of the following Society grants in the two years before the closing date of the round applied to: General Travel Grants, International Sponsored Places or Travel Award for Skills and Knowledge.
- Applicants must not have received one of the following Society grants in the 12 months before the closing date of the round applied to: Student Bursary, Early Career Bursary or Full Member Bursary.
- Applicants need to provide an abstract that has been submitted to the conference, to demonstrate active participation. In the case of visits to other laboratories to learn new techniques, please provide a summary of the intended work to be undertaken during the visit.
Please also read the guidelines for applicants before applying.
Successful recipients must provide a meeting report and photograph, which may be used in our blog or The Biochemist,our magazine,
Personal information collected from applicants will be used only for the purpose stated. Read our privacy policy for further details.
Related grants
Student Bursaries, for Undergraduate and Postgraduate student members wanting support to attend the Society’s Scientific Meetings, Training Events and Courses.
Early Career Bursaries, for Early Career members wanting support to attend the Society’s Scientific Meetings.
Full Member Bursaries, for Full Members wanting support to attend the Society’s Scientific Meetings.
More information
For further information please contact the Grants department >.