Applicant Guidelines

Detailed guidelines for Travel Award applicants

1) Eligibility

a. Applicants must be paying members of the Challenger Society.

b. Masters Degree students in their 4th year of study may apply for only 1 student Travel Award during your period of study.

c. MSc students may apply for only 1 student Travel Award during your period of study.

d. PhD students can apply for a maximum of 2 Travel Awards during your period of study.

2) Completing the application form

a. Applications for Travel Awards should be completed using the form (MS Word Document) provided.

b. These take the form of a statement of the reasons for travel, including its scientific value, and if applying for funds to attend a conference, that a paper or poster has been accepted (incl. the abstract), and the total budget for the travel explaining how the majority of the costs will be found.

c. A statement of support from one of the student's supervisors must be included. This statement should include a motivation why the student should receive the travel award and how they would benefit from partaking in the activity with regards to their Masters/PhD and beyond. It should also outline the student’s funding situation.

3) Reports

a. Successful recipients of Travel Awards are required to provide a brief report to be published in Challenger Wave and on the website following attendance at the meeting or completion of fieldwork.

b. This report should consist of: (1) blog-type summary report (preferably in MS Word); (2) picture attachment; (3) profile of award holder; (4) 140-character Twitter feed.

c. The report must be submitted within 3 months of attendance at the meeting or completion of fieldwork. If you are unable to attend the meeting or complete the fieldwork, please notify Dr Sophie-Berenice Wilmes (s.wilmes@bangor.ac.uk) depending on the circumstances, the award can be delayed or re-assigned.

4) Payments

a. Please apply in a timely manner before funding is required.

b. Payments will only be made once the report has been received.

c. Payments will be made by cheque (either direct to the student or to the department).

5) Submission Process

a. Applications can be submitted by email using the link to the application form at the bottom of this page.

b. Applications deadlines are January 15th, April 15th, July 15th, and October 15th of each year.

c. Applications can be submitted at any time but will be reviewed shortly after the above mentioned deadlines.

d. Electronic submissions should be made to Dr Sophie-Berenice Wilmes (s.wilmes@bangor.ac.uk).

6) Decision Process

a. The travel award applications are reviewed by the Council against a number of criteria (including the scientific merit, personal statement, and budget).

b. Each deadline will have a total budget of around £2,500. Monies can be rolled over if not fully used in anyone period.

c. A decision will be made within 6 weeks of the deadline and applicants will be notified of the outcome at that time

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