The Challenger Society Virtual Conference Award
With this new award (set up in 2021), the Challenger Society provides support to delegates attending virtual conferences and aims to cover the costs of registration and administration.
Virtual conference attendance awards (VCAAs) are available to assist postgraduate students, Masters Degree students in their 4th year, and early career researchers within their last 3 months of employment or currently unemployed in attending conferences or workshops virtually. Applicants need to be members of the Challenger Society and be based at a UK research institution. Priority is given to students/ECRs 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 awards to the value of up to £250.
VCAAs cannot be made retrospectively, the application must be submitted prior to conference attendance.
During their period of study,
- Masters Degree students in their 4th year of study may apply for one award;
- MSc students may apply for one award;
- PhD students may apply for two awards.
- Early Career Researchers may apply for one award.
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 £600. Monies can be rolled over if not fully used in anyone period. If you have any questions regarding the scheme, please contact Dr Sophie-Berenice Wilmes s.wilmes@bangor.ac.uk
Guidelines for applicants can be found here, and the Application form for the award is here
(page update 08-12-2021)
Latest News
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.
NOC Association AGM 2025
NOC Association (NOCA) AGM 2025
The 14th AGM of the NOC Association will be held on Thursday 15th and Friday 16th May 2025. This free, on-line event will take place on Zoom, across two consecutive mornings, each starting at 10:00 and ending at 12:30. Although discussion topics are being finalised, we will focus on national capability (NC) science, ships, and autonomous vehicles, and how the community can engage. There will be an update on AtlantiS and on the new marine science scoping group. All are warmly welcome to join. To participate, please complete your registration here. For enquiries: Jackie Pearson, Secretary to NOCA: jfpea@noc.ac.uk