Travel Grants

A limited number of grants will be available to participants to help offset their travel expenses. These grants will be made to enable attendance by those who would not otherwise be able to come. Grants can be to cover airfare, the registration fee, or lodging costs. A portion of the funds we have available to provide grants comes from the International Astronomical Union, and they must approve the awards that we make with their funds.

The criteria for awarding grants will include financial need and relevance of the proposed presentation to the goals of the symposium. We especially encourage graduate students and early-career researchers to apply.

If lodging cost is requested you can use the figure of $200 per night for the total cost. Please note that we will ordinarily book those getting travel support into shared rooms. The registration fee is $300. We can also support some airfare expense on a reimbursement basis, but we ask that you provide an amount that you require in dollars. In order to be reimbursed for airfare you will need to provide a receipt or other substantiation of the cost incurred.

Application procedure

First, register for IAU Symposium 258 at this web site. You do not need to pay the registration fee at this time if you are requesting support for that fee, but you should submit the abstract for your presentation and indicate if it is a poster or an oral contribution. We have limited time available in the schedule for contributed talks, and so not all such requests can be honored.

Second, send an e-mail to iaus258@stsci.edu with application information. The subject line should include “IAUS258 Travel Grant,” and the following information should be provided in this order:

1. Full name of applicant: Last name, first name, middle name
2. Title of your current position, such as “graduate student,” or “Assistant Professor”
3. Institution you are now working at
4. Full address of your institution
5. Your telephone and fax numbers
6. Your e-mail address
7. Your country of citizenship
8. Your date of birth
9. Your sex
10. The type of contribution you will make at the symposium (invited review, poster, or contributed talk)
11. The title of your presentation
12. The type of financial aid requested (hotel, airfare, and/or registration fee)
13. The total dollar amount of your request

Also provide a short explanation of why you wish to participate in the symposium, how your contribution addresses the symposium’s goals, and what you hope to gain from participating.

Finally, students who apply should indicate:

Students should also arrange for their thesis advisor to send a separate note to the above e-mail address that certifies that the student is working with the advisor and with a short appraisal of the student and the significance of the symposium for the student.

The deadline for receipt of these materials is June 23.