External Event Grant
Funds are available to support eligible members presenting work at scientific or education meetings, short courses or training events relevant to Microbiology.
Key details
- Maximum award: £750; eligible members may also apply for funding to attend a short course or training event specifically related to Microbiology
- Deadlines: 1 March 2025, 1 July 2025
- Eligible membership categories: Full, Full Concessionary and Postgraduate Student Members
- Minimum membership: One year membership and two consecutive membership subscription payments required
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 grant rules before submitting an application.
- Eligibility
- What is covered by the grant?
- Application process
- Award criteria
- Publishing for the community
- Administration of awards
- Statistics
Eligibility
Membership categories eligible to apply:
- Full member
- Full Concessionary Member
- Postgraduate Student Members
Minimum membership period required:
A minimum membership period of one year and two consecutive membership payments is required.
Postgraduate and Undergraduate Students with three-year memberships will need to have completed one year membership (three-year membership payment constitutes consecutive payment).
We welcome applications from eligible members working in industry, applied, clinical or infection science settings.
Eligible members must not have received a grant from this scheme in the previous calendar year and may apply for half of the costs associated with presenting at their chosen meeting up to a maximum of £750.
Applicants wishing to attend the Microbiology Society Annual Conference or Focused meetings must apply for funding through the Society Event Grant Scheme.
What is covered by the grant?
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 to the costs of registration, travel, and accommodation to attend an event.
Application process
Applications must be made online via Mi Society.
A full breakdown of expected costs of attendance should be given in the appropriate part of the application, this should also include information on cost-saving measures.
The following supplementary information must also be included and uploaded while completing your application:
- A copy of your abstract
- A copy of your abstract acceptance (if this is not available at the time of application, please upload a letter confirming that this will be submitted when available).
Application deadlines
Early application is advised for all rounds.
Award criteria
Award decisions are reviewed by a points system based on a defined set of criteria. Please find the criteria below.
- Benefits to Professional Development - Briefly describe the value of the conference attendance or activity to your career and professional development and give comment on the necessity for it taking place at this stage in your career. Please include your career stage, e.g. ‘3rd year PhD student’, or ‘senior lecturer’.
- Benefits to Research - Give expected research related outcomes including, as applicable, if a manuscript for publication or grant application will be produced, if the work will form part of a PhD thesis, how potential collaboration will continue in the future.
- Expected Research Outcomes - Please outline the aims and objectives of your project and how this will contribute to knowledge in the field.
- Costs - Please set out a detailed and complete budget (travel, accommodation, registration etc including cost-saving measures, and other funding sources to guarantee meeting success.
We receive a high number of applications for this scheme and it is competitive. We, therefore may not be able to fund all applications. Grants are awarded at the discretion of the Society and the decision of the Award Panel is final.
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
Applicants should expect to receive notification of the outcome of their application approximately six weeks after the closing date.
Applicants will be notified of an awarded grant via email. 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.
The grant award will be displayed on the Mi Society account under ‘Grant History’. Claims must be made within three months of the funded event and must be substantiated by itemised receipts. 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 if incorrect details are provided and we need to contact you for further information, payment will take longer to reach your account.
Please read all information on this page carefully and ensure you have read and agreed to the grants rules before submitting an application.
External Event Grant 2024 Statistics
In 2024, there were a total of 102 applications over three rounds. 57% of those who applied were successful.
Enquiries about this scheme should be made by email to [email protected]