Junior Scientist Conference Grants

The purpose of these grants is to support the attendance of Genetics Society “junior scientist” members at conferences on research in Genetics.

The scheme has three main streams: (A) to support attendance at meetings organised directly by the Genetics Society or sponsored by the Society as a Special Interest Group (SIG); (B) to support attendance at non-Genetics Society meetings; and (C) to support attendance of virtual conferences.

Eligibility Criteria:

  • Scheme (A) is open to undergraduate, Master’s and PhD student members and to postdoctoral scientist members of The Society within six years of their PhD viva.  Scientists who obtained their PhD more than six years ago are not eligible for this scheme.
  • Schemes (B) & (C) are open to PhD student and postdoctoral scientist members within six years of their PhD viva (but not undergraduate or Master’s students).  Scientists who obtained their PhD more than six years ago are not eligible for these schemes.
  • Schemes (B) & (C) are open to members with a UK base wishing to attend conferences outside of the UK and to non-UK-based members wishing to attend a conference in the UK.  We regret that we cannot consider applications from bases outside the UK for conference attendance outside the UK.  A maximum of one grant per two years will be awarded for applications to Scheme (B) or (C).
  • Applicants must present a poster or give a talk at the conference they wish to attend with Genetics Society support (abstracts including title and authors must be provided in the application).
  • Supervisors providing support letters must be current members of the Genetics Society and should include their membership number in the supporting letter.  This supporting letter must be uploaded along with the online application before the deadline.
  • Grant recipients will be asked to write a short report that may be published in the Genetics Society Newsletter.

(A) Grants to assist with travel and accommodation costs to attend Genetics Society or Special Interest Group (SIG) meetings.
Grants up to £200 are available for travel and essential overnight accommodation to attend any of the Genetics Society’s own meetings and those of our Special Interest Groups (SIGs).  Registration for the Genetics Society’s own meetings will be free when meeting the eligibility criteria. There is no limit to the frequency that Scheme (A) grants can be applied for to attend Genetics Society or SIG meetings.

The most economic form of travel should be used.

View upcoming  Genetics Society Scientific  and Special Interest Group meetings.

(B) Travel, accommodation and registration cost at other (non-Genetics Society) meetings. 
Grants of up to £750 are available to attend conferences in the area of Genetics, which are not run by the Genetics Society or one of their SIGs.

Up to two (Scheme B) Conference grants per year will be co-sponsored by the Adelphi Genetics Forum and will provide up to £1,000.  Applicants for a prestigious Adelphi Genetics Forum co-sponsored award should request between £750 and £1,000 in support and explain how their work conforms to the mission of the Adelphi Genetics Forum.  The Adelphi Genetics Forum co-sponsored award is only open to registered PhD student members who will take up the award before their PhD graduation date.  If unsuccessful for the Adelphi Genetics Forum co-sponsored award, applications will be automatically considered for a standard stream B grant for which a maximum of £750 can be awarded.

(C) Registration costs for (non-Genetics Society) virtual meetings.
Grants of up to £300 are available to cover registration costs for virtual conferences.

The virtual conference grant is available to:

  • UK-based members to enable attendance at a genetics-related virtual conference based either in the UK or elsewhere
  • non-UK-based members to attend a UK-based Genetics related virtual conference

How to apply:
Applications should be submitted in time for one of our bi-monthly deadlines (1st day of February, April, June, August, October and December) and should be made by logging into the mySociety membership portal.  Once you have logged in, please select “Me and the GS” followed by “Grants” from the options at the top of the page, and then choose the Junior Scientist Conference Grant.  Note that the conference you are applying for must take place AFTER the application deadline.

For Genetics Society and Special Interest Group (SIG) meetings (the list of current SIGs is here), applications should be submitted online before the registration deadline of the meeting.

If you have any queries regarding the application process or are experiencing any difficulty with your submission, please contact theteam@genetics.org.uk

The supervisor’s supporting statement must be uploaded along with the online application before the deadline.  Supervisors writing support letters must be current members of the Genetics Society and should include their membership number in their support letter.