Society Events Grant
Funds are available to support eligible members attending the Society Annual Conference or one other Society meeting per year.
Please read all information on this page carefully and ensure you have read and agreed to the grant rules before submitting an application.
- Eligibility
- Maximum award
- What is covered by the grant
- Application process
- Award criteria
- Publishing for the community
- Administration of awards
- Statistics
Eligibility
Eligible membership categories
- Full Member
- Full Concessionary Member
- Postgraduate Student Members
- Undergraduate Student Members
We welcome applications from eligible members working in industry, applied, clinical or infection science settings.
Minimum membership period required
Maximum award
Applications requesting a contribution towards registration fees to attend Society online events will be considered.
International Focused Meetings
What is covered by the grant
Awards are intended as a contribution to the costs of registration, travel, and accommodation to attend an event.
Awards are made on the basis that funds are sought from as many avenues as are available to the applicants. Members of the Society are eligible to apply for a Federation of European Microbiological Societies (FEMS) Meeting Attendance Grant.
Caring Costs
Eligible Members who wish to apply for additional sum of up to £400 towards childcare expenses, or other similar caring needs should request this in the caring cost grant section of the application form.
Creche Facilities
If you are unable to secure a place with our creche, and you need to pay for childcare services, you, will need to provide a clear breakdown of costs. Please note that as funds are limited and the Society endeavours to support as many applicants as possible, we may not always be able to fund the full amount requested.
If your application for caring costs is successful, copies of itemised receipts will be required to process your claim.
Application process
Deadlines for Submitting applications
Opening and closing dates for applications to attend the following events in 2024 are below:
- Microbiology Society Annual Meeting in Ireland 2024 will open on 19 August and close on 2 September 2024 at 23:59 BST.
- Annual Conference 2025 will open on 6 December and will close on 20 December 2024 at 23:59 GMT.
- Biofilms 11 will open on 24 February 2025 and close on 3 March 2025 at 23:59 GMT
- Candida and Candidiasis 2025 will open on 01 May 2025 and close on 14 May 2025 at 23:59 GMT.
Award criteria
- Applicant fulfils the stated eligibility criteria.
- Attendance of the event is dependent on a clear and stated benefit to the applicants’ professional development.
- Applicants who have provided a detailed breakdown of costs including cost saving measures and how other sources of funding have been sought towards costs of attending the meeting.
- If we receive more applications than we are able to fund for Annual Conference 2024, priority will be given to those presenting at the conference, early career members, and those without access to alternative funds.
Publishing for the community
We are a membership charity and a not-for-profit publisher. Submissions to our titles support the community, ensuring that we continue to provide grants, events and professional development for microbiologists at all career stages.
Please consider publishing with us so that we can support more members to benefit from the experience. Just one article published with us generates the revenue to give grants to four early career members to attend Annual Conference or seven early career members to attend a Focused Meeting.
If you are new to publishing and would like to find out more, visit our Publishing Fundamentals resources.
Administration of awards
To claim a grant, successful applicants should log into Mi Society, and enter the award amount in the grant claim form. Claims must be made within three months of the funded event. Awards not claimed within this time will automatically be withdrawn by the Society.
Awarded funds will be paid to the applicant’s nominated account by bank transfer within one month of an award claim being made. Please note that overseas payments may take slightly longer.
Grant recipients are responsible for their own conference registration, accommodation, and travel bookings.
Annual Conference 2024 Statistics
In 2024, there were a total of 355 applications. 82.53% of those who applied were successful.
Enquiries about this scheme should be made by email to [email protected].