Early Career Conference Grants

Closing date: 16:00 UTC, Tuesday 30 November

Up to 40 Early Career Conference Grants are available for ACU member university staff to attend both virtual (online) and in-person conferences. Applicants must identify a specific conference before applying for the grant and state whether they are applying for a virtual or in-person grant on the application form.

For emerging academics, taking part in conferences can have a profound impact on their teaching and research. Conferences are a chance to share research, learn about the latest developments in an area of work, and build valuable professional networks. Researchers find themselves better informed and better connected with new knowledge that can be shared and multiplied amongst colleagues and students.

The ACU’s Early Career Conference Grants help to ensure that more emerging researchers – and the universities that employ them – can benefit from these valuable opportunities.

The final number of awarded grants will depend on the number of applications received for each format (virtual/in-person).

Who can apply?

Applicants must:

Be employed by an ACU member university with a job title of lecturer, post-doctoral researcher, professor, associate professor, or equivalent.
Be within 7 years of the start of their academic (research/teaching) career
Not have previously travelled for work purposes (including conferences) outside their region of employment since the start of their academic career. Please see this page for the definition of regions.
Not be a previous recipient of an ACU Early Career Conference Grant (previously known as Early Career Academic Grants.)

Conference requirements

The conference must take place between 1 April and 30 September 2022. Applicants are advised to carefully research their chosen conference before applying as high-quality conferences organised by universities or academic bodies of good standing will be prioritised.

What does the grant include?

Grants for virtual conferences

Grants for in-person conferences

The grants cover:

Conference registration fee of up to GBP 600
A data grant of GBP 50 for successful applicants who do not have reliable access to Wi-Fi.
Free access to a half-day training session on how to deliver great virtual presentations

Before applying, applicants must first research the border restrictions and COVID-19 vaccine and testing requirements of the country where the conference is hosted. Applicants will need to confirm that they are able to travel to their chosen conference without being required to quarantine, if successful.

The grants cover up to GBP 2,000 to fund:

Conference registration fee
Flights
Accommodation
Visa costs
Travel and health insurance
COVID-19 testing required for travel

Applicants wishing to attend an in-person conference must select a conference outside of their country of employment.

Application requirements

As part of the application form, applicants must:

Provide details of their chosen conference, including a copy of their abstract
State whether the conference is to be delivered virtually or in-person (for hybrid conferences, applicants must choose whether they wish to attend in-person or virtually)
Choose the Sustainable Development Goal(s) which relate most closely to their research and describe how their research can contribute to achieving these goals (100-200 words)
Explain the reasons for their choice of conference and how it links to their research interests (100-200 words)
Explain how participating in the conference will benefit their career and professional development (100-200 words)
Explain how they will share the knowledge gained by participating in the conference (100-200 words)
Attach a detailed letter or email of support from their head of department
If applying for an in-person conference, give a breakdown of the costs for which they are applying for funding

Reporting requirements

Successful applicants must provide a short, written report on the use of their grant by 31 October 2022 at the latest. The report form will be provided by the ACU.

How to apply

If you don’t have a MyACU account: please register here and then follow the instructions in the registration email to set up an account. You will then be able to log in to the system here to access the application form.