Challenger Society Travel Awards
Travel awards are available to assist postgraduate students and Masters Degree students in their 4th year who are members of the Challenger Society and are based at a UK research institution, to attend scientific conferences or participate in cruises and fieldwork. Priority is given to students who have had a paper or poster accepted for a recognised conference. The Society cannot guarantee that an award will be made and this should not be assumed in applying for funding elsewhere.
It is possible to apply for travel awards to the value of £250 for UK travel or £500 for international travel during your period of study. However, travel awards cannot be made retrospectively, the application must be submitted prior to travel. The Challenger Society will not fund internal flights within the UK (excluding Northern Ireland) unless it is necessary to allow participation (reasonable examples include but are not limited to caring responsibilities and disabilities). We do not require applicants to disclose personal information but ask them to acknowledge that they fall under a reasonable exemption to allow an internal flight in their application.
- Masters Degree students in their 4th year of study may apply for one award, EITHER a UK travel award OR an international travel award
- MSc students may apply for one award, EITHER a UK travel award OR an international travel award.
- PhD students may apply for two awards, i.e., both UK, both international or one of each.
Please submit your application to one of the following deadlines: January 15th, April 15th, July 15th and October 15th. Each deadline will have a total budget of around £1,500. Monies can be rolled over if not fully used in any one period. If you have any questions regarding the scheme, please contact Sophie Wilmes s.wilmes@bangor.ac.uk
Detailed Guidelines for Travel Award Applicants can be found here
The Travel Award application form is available here.
Reports from previous winners of Travel Awards can be found here
Instructions to Awardees:
If you have been awarded a Travel Award, congratulations! As part of the award it is mandatory to fill in a report of your travel prior to receiving the funds. A template of the report can be found here and must be used. Please fill this in and email as a word document to Dr Sophie-Berenice Wilmes (s.wilmes@bangor.ac.uk) with one attached photo. If you have a twitter account please help raise the profile of the Society and our support of students by tweeting during your travels and tagging @challengersoc.
The Challenger Society is working towards being a fully equitable and inclusive organisation (see EDI statement here).
Latest News
Townhall on UK Arctic Ocean contribution to International Polar Year 32/33
The Arctic is one of the most rapidly-changing regions on our planet, with impacts on global sea-level rise, changes to our climate and weather patterns, and threats to our shared biodiversity and ecosystem services. With the international community rapidly mobilising towards the International Polar Year 32/33, and with new international programmes and initiatives now being shaped, it is timely for the UK Ocean Science community to come together and articulate what its unique offerings could be to Arctic research and technology.
This hybrid 2-day meeting, to be held at NOC Southampton, is intended to start this process. Recognising the Arctic Oceans role in global Earth and Human systems, anticipated outcomes include a high-level shaping of what the UK Arctic Ocean community would like to achieve over the course of the IPY, stimulation of new collaborations and proposals for grand Arctic challenges and a baseline from which wider integration with terrestrial, atmospheric and cryosphere communities, both in the UK and overseas, can be built. Discussions will continue in diverse forums, including the UK Arctic Science Meeting in September and at Challenger 2026.
This action is supported by the UK Arctic Office and UK Arctic and Antarctic Partnership
Further details and meeting registration link will be circulated in April together with a questionnaire to help shape the agenda and discussion
In the meantime…SAVE THE DATE
Potential Availability of NERC Ship Time During the 25/26 Programme Year
The NERC Marine Facilities Programme for 2025/2026 for the RRS Discovery and the RRS James Cook has been published on the Marine Facilities Planning website.
The RRS Discovery programme currently contains a 79 day alongside slot between the 2nd of November 2025 and the 19th of January 2026, which is available for science delivery if funded science projects can make use of this time. Due to the location of the vessel, the ship is most likely to be able to deliver fieldwork in the North and East Atlantic regions. Some support for science capability within the National Marine Equipment Pool is potentially available, although there is no capacity for use of autonomous vehicles or remotely operated vehicles. Any fieldwork within Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs) will need the appropriate diplomatic clearance submitted to coastal states at least 6 months in advance, and to NMF with sufficient lead time for processing via the FCDO.
If interested in making use of this ship time, please contact NERC Marine Planning (marineplanning@nerc.ukri.org) ASAP to start discussions.
THE MARINE FACILITIES ADVISORY BOARD – CAN YOU HELP?
The Marine Facilities Advisory Board advises the National Oceanography Centre on marine facilities and services, including the Natural Environment Research Council’s National Marine Equipment Pool (NMEP), the British Oceanographic Data Centre and the British Ocean Sediment Core Research Facility.