Grants are awarded at the discretion of the Society and the decision of the Award Panel is final.
The project to be supported must be microbiological (research) or of relevance to microbiologists (events).
Retrospective applications will not be considered.
To be eligible to apply for funding for any of our grants, applicants must have held membership for a minimum period of one year and paid two consecutive membership payments.
By accepting a grant, recipients agree to provide feedback on how funding for attendance at the event was beneficial to their personal and professional development and give approval for the Society to use this information on our website and publicity communications.
Any changes to awarded projects (including postponement) must be communicated to the Grants Office as soon as possible. Significant changes made to projects without the approval of the Grants Office may result in withdrawal of awarded funding. Significant changes include but are not limited to: purpose, location, and timing.
All claims must be made within three months of the funded project and substantiated by receipts (except Society Event Grants). If claims are not received within three months of the event/project, the offer of funding will automatically be withdrawn. Payments to undergraduate students must be supported by evidence e.g. payslips or university certified statement of payments.
Applicants who receive support from other sources that meets their costs in part or in full are required to inform the Grants Office of the amount(s) as soon as possible. If a Society award has already been paid, then the amount in excess of the stated required sum must be returned.
Grant recipients who have claimed funds in advance but do not attend the proposed event will be required to repay the grant in full. Recipients are advised to arrange appropriate travel insurance where applicable.
If the event you wish to attend has now been cancelled or postponed, please contact [email protected] immediately to withdraw your award. This withdrawal will ensure that you are eligible to apply to forthcoming rounds of the scheme to support your attendance at the rescheduled/alternative event.
The support of the Society should be acknowledged in presentations given. A logo and guidance on its use will be supplied for this purpose.
Rules for External Event Grants
Applicants must be presenting work at the conference for which funds are awarded. Any appropriate area of microbiology, including pedagogy, will be considered if it is relevant to the applicant’s research.
Copies of abstracts and abstract acceptance must be submitted as evidence that applicants are presenting their work either as an oral or poster presentation at the conference. A conditional grant offer can be made without evidence of the abstract acceptance if it is not available at the time of application. However, it must be submitted to claim offered funds.
Grants are not intended to cover the full costs of the proposed event. Awards are made on the basis that funds are sought from as many avenues as are available to the applicants and therefore are intended as a contribution towards costs of registration, travel, and accommodation to attend an event.
Rules for Society Event Grants
Eligible members may apply for a grant to support attendance at one Society event per year. This may be the Annual Conference or a Focused Meeting (in person events only). The support of the Society should be acknowledged in any presentation. A logo and guidance on its use will be supplied for this purpose.
Grant recipients are required to complete a short post-event questionnaire that will be sent after the event.
Grant recipients who do not register or do not attend the proposed event, will be required to repay the awarded funds. This includes non-attendance due to travel cancellations, etc.
Rules for Outreach and Engagement Grant
The activity should take place within 12 months of an award being made.
A copy of the results of the evaluation outlined in the grant proposal should be submitted within three months of the activity taking place.
Rules for Research Visit Grants
Projects should commence within 12 months of the award being made.
A copy of the results of the evaluation outlined in the grant proposal should be submitted within three months of the activity taking place.
Grant recipients will normally be expected to continue receiving a salary or student stipend from their home institution or other source.
Grant recipients are expected to have adequate insurance and are responsible for arranging this.
The support of the Society should be acknowledged in any publications arising from the work undertaken during the visit.
The support of the Society should also be acknowledged in any presentation during the project or presentation of data after the project. A logo and guidance on its use will be supplied for this purpose.
Research visits should not be within the same institution in which you study or work.
As a Society publisher, we are not for profit and everything we offer our community happens thanks to the revenue generated by publishing, this includes the ability to offer funding through our grant schemes. To continue to generate revenue to support future grant applicants, grant recipients will be expected to submit content to at least one of the following of our communication channels:
Micro Perspectives – these are articles written in a magazine-style format and published via our journals website. This content welcomes a range of opinion pieces, hot topics and other non-traditional research articles, which are provided with a DOI, and contribute to an author’s publication record.
Microbe Posts – blogs from our members on their work but also on their experiences of being a microbiologist across a variety of settings and career stages.
Microbe Talk – podcasts which feature the research of our members, often linked to an issue currently in the news or aligned with one of our major projects like Knocking Out Antimicrobial Resistance brought to life in conversation with Society staff.
Press releases – issued to highlight our members research, either directly reported to us or from articles submitted to our journals. We can help secure coverage across the media, including major news platforms and on occasion, broadcast.
Rules for Harry Smith Vacation Studentships
Each applicant (project supervisor) may apply for sponsorship of one student candidate per round of application.
Once an award has been offered, it cannot be transferred to another student.
An individual student may only be supported by a Harry Smith Vacation Studentship once.
Studentships will not be awarded for projects that are part of degree work.
The work must take place in the summer immediately following the award.
Grants are made to the applicants’ institution on the understanding that it will administer the award. The institution is responsible for providing adequate facilities and ensuring that all necessary requirements of regulatory authorities are in place before work begins and are maintained for the duration of the grant. The project supervisor is responsible for the conduct of the research.
A studentship may be held in a laboratory away from the normal place of study.
A brief report and financial statement must be provided within three months of completion of the project. Failure to submit this evidence may result any awarded funds being returned in full and will result in ineligibility to apply for the conference attendance bursary.
If the project is not completed or if consumables funds are not used, excess funds must be repaid.
It is not possible to defer studentship awards to the following calendar year. If an award can no longer be administered, please contact [email protected].
