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Travel Awards and Travel Award Pre-Review Program

 

NEW!!!  Guide to Preparing an IBNS Travel Award Application

 

IBNS 2025 Travel Award Pre-Review Program Call for Applications 

The deadline to apply for the Travel Award Pre-Review Program has passed

The Travel Award Pre-Review Program seeks to support IBNS’ mission to promote participation, achievement, and increase cultural and international diversity of trainees in behavioral neuroscience. The goal of this Program is to promote diversity in IBNS and strengthen international peer networks by assisting trainees with drafting competitive applications for an IBNS Travel Award. This Program assists trainees (undergraduates, graduate students, and postdocs) in submitting competitive travel award applications to the 2025 Annual Meeting by pairing applicants with mentors who will pre-review and provide feedback on their Travel Award application. Members from underrepresented populations and from institutions in countries underrepresented within the IBNS membership are highly encouraged to apply.

Pre-Review Program applicants should refer to the Travel Award application evaluation rubric and must follow all Travel Award guidelines. Participation in the Pre-Review Program does not guarantee success on the final Travel Award, but does improve application competitiveness and helps develop professional networks

Applications for the Pre-Review Program will be accepted until November 10, 2024. Applicants will be notified of their acceptance and paired with a mentor within one week of this date to allow enough time to incorporate the mentor’s feedback and submit a Travel Award application due December 13th, 2024. Participation in this Program is not guaranteed. Pre-Review Program participants are responsible for submitting their Travel Award application through the IBNS portal before the 12/13/2024 deadline. 

IBNS membership is not required to complete the Pre-Review program (but is required to apply for the full Travel Award)

To apply to participate in the Pre-Review Program, please complete this application. All application materials required for the IBNS Travel Award application must be submitted as a single pdf file to be considered for this Program.

  1. Individual (not symposium) abstract for the meeting (No longer than 2500 characters including title, authors, and spaces), with the applicant listed as the first author (required)
  2. CV (Curriculum vitae, required)
  3. Research Productivity Considerations (optional, no longer than 1000 characters with spaces) describing any factors that may have affected your research productivity or educational development. For example, family care responsibilities, illness, disability, military service, and other personal issues.
  4. Personal Statement describing the benefit of award to the applicant and how the applicant’s career goals align with the mission of IBNS (required, please refer to the rubric and guide); no longer than 1000 characters with spaces
  5. Diversity and Inclusion Statement describing applicant’s efforts to promote diversity and inclusion in behavioral neuroscience with regard to culture, ethnicity, gender identity or expression, nationality, race, religion, sexual orientation, etc. (required); no longer than 1000 characters with spaces
  6. Letter of Recommendation (required)

Travel Awards

General information: The deadline to apply for a Travel Award has passed  Student and Postdoctoral Travel Awards will be available for the 2025 IBNS Annual Meeting, to be held from June 24-29, 2025, in Tromsø, Norway. Undergraduate, graduate (including students enrolled in Doctoral and Master’s programs), and postdoctoral members are eligible to apply. Postdocs must be within 7 years of receiving their Ph.D. and have not yet had a faculty, instructor, or staff scientist position. IBNS limits Travel Awards to one award per level of training (i.e., undergraduate, graduate, and postdoc). Those who have previously received awards are only eligible again at the next career stage.

Applications must be submitted through the IBNS member portal. If you are not currently a member of IBNS, please allow 4-6 business days for your membership application to be approved. IBNS Travel Awards are one of the many benefits of an IBNS membership.  If you receive the error message "You are ineligible to take this form", you will need to wait for your membership application to be approved.  Approval time is typically 24 - 48 hours. Members from underrepresented populations and from institutions in underrepresented countries within the IBNS membership are highly encouraged to apply. Travel Award recipients are required to present a poster as well as participate in an oral Travel Award Blitz session. Travel Award recipients are required to attend the entire meeting in person. 

Evaluation Process: Travel Award applicants are evaluated according to their level of training (undergraduate, graduate (MA or PhD), postdoctoral). A rubric will be used to evaluate materials to standardize assessment of all applications. To assist applicants in effectively addressing the evaluation criteria in this rubric, the IBNS Education and Training Committee has compiled a guide to help applicants prepare competitive Travel Award applications. Applicants are strongly encouraged to use this guide.

Click here to view previous Travel Award winners.

The Diversity Committee Liaisons for the Education and Training Committee, in coordination with the Chair and Co-Chair, will use the results of the diversity survey to identify applicants from underrepresented backgrounds and to ensure that diverse backgrounds are represented among Travel Awardees. Award recipients will be notified of their award before the abstract submission deadline in February 2025.

Before starting the online application, please have the following items prepared:

  1. Diversity survey (optional, questions included on application form)
  2. Individual (not symposium) abstract for the meeting (No longer than 2500 characters including title, authors, and spaces), with the applicant listed as the first author (required)
  3. CV (Curriculum vitae, required)
  4. Research Productivity Considerations (optional, no longer than 1000 characters with spaces) describing any factors that may have affected your research productivity or educational development. For example, family care responsibilities, illness, disability, military service, and other personal issues
  5. Personal Statement describing the benefit of award to the applicant and how the applicant’s career goals align with the mission of IBNS (required, please refer to the rubric and guide); no longer than 1000 characters with spaces
  6. Diversity and Inclusion Statement describing applicant’s efforts to promote diversity and inclusion in behavioral neuroscience with regard to culture, ethnicity, gender identity or expression, nationality, race, religion, sexual orientation, etc. (required); no longer than 1000 characters with spaces
  7. Letter of Recommendation (required)

Applicants must attach these materials as a SINGLE pdf file, with the title of the pdf being your last name followed by your first name (e.g., Doe_Jane.pdf). Be sure that you have your pdf file prepared as one document before starting the online application.

Award winners will receive an award certificate, free registration to the meeting, participation in the mentorship program, participation in the Travel Award Blitz presentations, and the opportunity to attend all other trainee events held during the meeting. Travel Award winners must be able to commit to attending the entire meeting.

All Travel Award funds are intended as reimbursement. Travel Award winners must be able to commit to attending the entire meeting. Please be aware that only a portion of travel, determined by estimated travel costs from country of application to the current meeting destination, will be reimbursed. Travel Awardees must have supplemental funds to attend the meeting. 

IBNS Travel Awards are one of the many benefits of an IBNS membership.  If you receive the error message "You are ineligible to take this form", you will need to wait for your membership application to be approved.  Approval time is typically within 24 - 48 hours.

 

Travel Award Abstract Guidelines

"Insert your abstract for the meeting with the applicant as the first author.  Please note that if you receive a travel award or otherwise plan to present at the IBNS meeting, you will be required to submit your abstract through our online abstract form at a later date. Submitting your abstract here is only for the travel award application". 

"Abstracts should be no longer than 2,500 characters including spaces and prepared as a single paragraph, single-spaced. Abstracts should NOT contain photos, tables or references. Data must be original and not previously published. Please include any funding acknowledgements".

 

IBNS 2024 Pre-Review Program Call for Mentors

The deadline to volunteer as a mentor has passed

The Pre-Review Program supports IBNS’ mission to promote participation, achievement, and to increase the cultural and international diversity of trainees in behavioral neuroscience. This Program assists junior scientists (undergraduates, graduate students, and postdocs) in crafting competitive Travel Award applications to the IBNS Annual Meeting by pairing applicants with mentors who pre-review and provide feedback on their Travel Award pre-application. The goal of the Pre-Review Program is to enhance diversity and strengthen international peer networks by supporting trainees from underrepresented populations and institutions within the IBNS community. 

We are currently seeking volunteers who are interested in serving as mentors for this Program. Volunteers must hold a PhD (or equivalent degree) in a field related to IBNS or be a previous IBNS Award winner. Mentors will be tasked with reviewing and providing constructive feedback on an IBNS Travel Award pre-application in November-December (2-4 hours time commitment). Volunteers who are trainees will not be assigned to review pre-applications at their career stage and will remain eligible to apply for an IBNS Travel Award at their level.  

If you’d like to serve as a mentor for the IBNS Pre-Review Program, please complete the form below by October 31, 2024.

The IBNS Education and Training Committee thanks you for your service and commitment to the professional development of trainees!