• Awards of up to $300 CAD are available to postdocs for virtual conferences,
• Awards of up to $750 CAD are available to postdocs for travel within North America, and
• Awards of up to $1200 CAD are available to postdocs for international travel outside of North America.

• Transportation costs (eg. airfare)
• Accommodation expenses
• Meal expenses
• Conference registration fees

Application deadlines are April 1st and Sept 1st of each year.

All PDF Travel Award applications are reviewed by the BBS Research Advisory Committee. All applicants will be contacted with the results of the travel award competition by the last day of the month of submission.

To be eligible, fellows must be working on a full-time basis in the laboratory of a BBS faculty member that has a primary appointment to BBS at the time of the conference and must be the presenting author of a poster or oral presentation at the conference they plan to attend.

Applications for the BBS PDF Travel Award are submitted online You will be required to upload several supporting documents and it is not possible to edit your application after submission. This online application should be completed in one sitting.

The following supporting documents must be submitted as one continuous PDF file in the following order:

• A copy of the applicant’s CV (4 page maximum)
• An outline of the conference
• Proof of acceptance of conference presentation (This should include correspondence from event organizers showing acceptance of presentation, presenter name, date, type of presentation, and title of presentation).
• Letter of support from PI

If confirmation of acceptance for conference presentation has not been received before the travel award application date, please submit proof of submission. Should you be selected for a PDF Travel Award, the award will be conditional based on conference acceptance. Proof of conference acceptance must be submitted prior to the conference in order to confirm the award.

Please note that all supporting documents must be uploaded and photographs of supporting documents will not be accepted.

An online application must be completed with the following information:

Part A: Applicant Information

• Applicant Name
• Email Address
• PDF Appointment Start Date
• PDF Appointment End Date
• Supervisor/PI Name
• Supervisor/PI Email Address
• Supervisor/PI letter of support

Part B: Funding Request 

• Travel Award Amount Requested
• Conference Name
• Conference Location (including virtual conferences)
• Conference Date(s)
• Other Funding Sources
• Presentation Type
• Contributing Author(s)
• Presentation Title
• Presentation Abstract
• Benefits of Conference Attendance

Part C: Application Submission

• Application verification and confirmation
• Upload of travel award application in one continuous PDF file.

Please note: Submissions must have all of the above-listed supporting documents attached as ONE PDF document, labelled “LastnameFirstnameBBSPDFTravel Award” (eg. “DoeJaneBBSPDFTravelAward”). Photographs of applications or of any application components will not be accepted. 

If your application is successfully submitted, you should receive an automated email confirmation shortly after submission.

The following criteria will be assessed by the BBS Research Advisory Committee for each application:

Clarity and Completeness (5 points)
Are all required elements (e.g., budget, conference acceptance/submission) included?
[note: If confirmation of acceptance for conference presentation has not been received before the travel award application date, proof of submission must be included. The travel award is conditional based on conference acceptance. Proof of conference acceptance must be submitted prior to the conference in order to get the award.]

Relevance of the Conference (5 points)
Is the conference relevant to the applicant’s research field?

Financial Need and Justification (5 points)
Are financial need and justification discussed?

Letter of Support (5 points)
Is the letter of support from the applicant’s advisor or supervisor provided and do they endorse the applicant’s request?
Does the letter provide insights into the applicant’s qualifications and potential impact on the conference?

Diversity and Inclusion (5 points)
Are there any unique contributions or perspectives in this regard?

Total Points: 25