Research Visit Grant
The Society offers grants of up to £3,000 to support members who are planning a short (one- to three-month) research visit to another laboratory. This scheme supports innovative projects within established collaborations and the development of new collaborative initiatives.
Enquiries about this scheme should be made by email to [email protected].
Please read all information on this page carefully and ensure you have read and agreed to the grants terms and conditions before submitting an application.
- Eligibility
- What is covered by the grant?
- Application process
- Award criteria
- Administration of awards
Eligibility
Current paid-up Full, Full Concessionary or Postgraduate Student members who have held membership for a minimum period of one year (two consecutive membership subscription payments) and who have not received a grant from this scheme in the previous calendar year.
Applications will be considered from members from these categories who are registered for a PhD or are PhD qualified and employed in a postdoctoral research position in a university, hospital or research institute worldwide ‘subject to compliance with employment laws and practices of the countries involved’. Full or Full Concessionary Members who are within five years of appointment to their first post as a lecturer are also eligible to apply.
What is covered by the grant?
Awards of up to £3,000 are available for making research visits of up to three month's duration (minimum length four weeks) to carry out a defined piece of work. Support is available for eligible members to visit any other laboratory worldwide; please note this should not be within the same institution in which you study or work.
Funds may be used to contribute to travel, accommodation and subsistence costs in making the visit, or towards the costs of project consumables.
Application process
There are two rounds of application per year. Closing dates are 1 April 2024 and 1 October 2024.
Applications should be made online via Mi Society. All required supplementary material should be provided at the point of application. Full expected costs of attendance should be given in the appropriate part of the application.
The Microbiology Society is leading the way with the Knocking Out AMR project, an ambitious, bold and extensive scheme of work aiming to promote feasible and effective solutions to AMR. To accompany this, we are building a Knocking Out AMR collection to serve as a central hub for the AMR content published in our portfolio. As part of the project, we would like to identify any grant applications that are AMR-related. If your application is AMR related, please could you indicate this on your application form in the ‘Project title’ section e.g. title of your project followed by (AMR related). Providing this information has no bearing on the outcome of any subsequent grant award.
Research Visit Grant 2023 Statistics
In 2023, there were a total of 18 applications over two rounds. 33.3% of those who applied were successful.
Award criteria
Awards are made by competition. Applications are reviewed by at least two referees and funding decisions are made by an Award Panel comprised of members of the Sustainability Committee, and are based on the reports of the referees.
Applications are reviewed against the following criteria:
- The project is of relevance to microbiology
- There is clear scientific merit in the project, underpinned by good scientific reasoning
- The project has clear scientific objectives that are realistically achievable in the proposed time frame
- The experimental approach is clearly described and technically feasible
- The host laboratory has the required expertise/equipment to support the successful completion of the project
- There is clear benefit to both the home and host laboratories
- There is clear benefit to the applicant
- Full and reasonable costings are given
We have provided an example application form to demonstrate the standard of answers and level of detail required for applications.
Research Visit Grant: Example application form
Administration of awards
Applicants should expect to receive notification of the outcome of their application within two months of the closing date. It is therefore expected that applications for the April and October rounds will be for activities taking place after 1 June and 1 December, respectively.
Applicants will be notified of an awarded grant via email. The grant award will also be displayed on your Mi Society account under ‘Grant History’.
To claim a grant, successful applicants should log into Mi Society, and upload evidence of the claim (this can be receipts or invoices, and evidence of attendance) when completing the grant claim form.
Awarded funds will be paid to the applicant’s nominated account by bank transfer within one month of an award claim being made.