Links within this page: Funding Information | Application Overview | Key Dates | Maximum Award Amounts | Application Process | Eligibility Requirements | Eligible Expenses | Award Notification | Contact | Contributors
Funding Information
ISCB is pleased to offer conference fellowships, including registration waivers for virtual participants, for students and postdoctoral fellows to present a talk or poster at the conference. Funding sources for Conference Fellowships are very limited and we regret that we are not able to fund all applicants. The conference organizers are committed to providing support to as many eligible applicants as possible. Conference Fellowship consideration is based on membership and accepted work.
Conference Fellowship Application Invitations are sent directly to eligible individuals after acceptance of scientific submissions to Proceedings, Abstracts, and/or Posters.
Application Overview
- The submitting author will be sent the invitation and is responsible for getting the invitation to the presenting author if the work is not being presented by the submitting author;
- Applicant must be a current member of ISCB prior to submitting an application. The membership must be valid through the calendar year;
- Applicant must be listed as an author and be the presenter of an accepted Oral or Poster presentation (Late Poster submissions are ineligible for a fellowship) in order to be eligible to apply for conference fellowship funds
- All applicants must attend all conference days and secure additional funding from other sources in order to be able to cover the full costs of attending the conference;
- The deadline to submit a fellowship application is May 28, 2026. No exceptions will be made.
Key Dates
Maximum Award Amounts
The maximum fellowship award is determined based on the geographical location of the applicant and upon submission of appropriate receipts. Please note that funded applicants will only be able to cover approximately 50% of the expense of travel and registration fees with these fellowship amounts. Thus all applicants must seek and secure additional funding sources (e.g., from your home institution/university, or grant funding). Maximum awards are as follows:
| Africa | $1500 USD |
| Asia-Pacific | $1500 USD |
| East Canada | $675 USD |
| East Coast USA | $675 USD |
| Europe | $1250 USD |
| Mexico | $1000 USD |
| Central USA | $675 USD |
| South America | $1250 USD |
| United Kingdom | $1250 USD |
| West Coast USA | $750 USD |
| West Coast Canada | $750 USD |
Application Process
Application is by invitation-only, sent automatically via email to the submitting author of an accepted Proceeding, Abstract Talk, and/or Poster submission (excluding accepted Late Posters). This invitation email will arrive after notification of acceptance of one of these submission types as a separate email. IF YOU HAVE AN ACCEPTED PRESENTATION AND HAVE NOT RECEIVED AN INVITATION BY END OF DAY, ANYWHERE ON EARTH, APRIL 28 – PLEASE CHECK YOUR SPAM FOLDER AND THEN CONTACT US IF AN INVITATION IS NOT THERE: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Each invitation will include a travel fellowship application URL to link to an application. The application URL must be submitted by the presenting author only, if the qualifying requirements are met. If the submitting author is not the presenting author, it is the responsibility of the submitting author to forward the invitation to the presenting author if the eligibility requirements are met. Each application URL can only be used one time and no application will be accepted after the deadline of May 28, 2026.
Eligibility Requirements
- Applicant must be a current ISCB member whose membership does not expire prior to December 31, 2026. Applications will not be accepted from non-members; pending memberships do not qualify and must be paid in full prior to submission of an application.
- Applicant must be listed as an author or co-author on the original submission of an accepted Proceedings paper, Abstract, or Poster (excluding accepted Late Posters), and, per the requirements of the funding agencies, the funded applicant must be the presenting author of the work. (Submitters to the "Call for Late Posters" are not eligible for fellowship funding.)
- Applicant must be registered in a degree program (undergraduate or graduate) or as a *post-doctoral research fellow at an accredited educational institution at the time of the conference; early career researcher (low - Upper-Middle Economic countries); post docs and employees of any US federal agency are ineligible for funding using US federal funds - currently we have only US federal funds for this travel fellowship program. (*The period of eligibility for a Post-Doc is five (5) years from the time of their PhD completion date).
- Applicant must be registered by June 11, 2026, and attend all four conference days. If attendance at the conference is dependent on receipt of fellowship funds, please do not register until after the notification of travel fellowship funding. Any funded applicant failing to register for the conference by June 11, 2026 will automatically forfeit the funds so that another applicant can be awarded from among the original pool of applicants.
- Applicant must be able to pay all expenses of attending the conference up front, including conference registration fee (as noted in above), travel, accommodations, and meals. Travel Fellowship funding will be provided via the ISCB payment system (bill.com) via secure electronic funds transfer (wire or ACH) approximately 6-8 weeks after the conference.
Eligible expenses
Eligible expenses toward fellowship funds include registration for the conference, Student Council Symposium or Tutorials, transportation (air or land transportation from home region to conference city), hotel accommodations (booked within the ISCB official block), and a maximum of $250.00 in meal expenses. In order to receive the full-awarded amount, receipts for registration, transportation, and hotel accommodations that equal or exceed the awarded amount are required.
Notification
Applicants will be notified no later than June 2, 2026 of the funding status. In some cases applicants may be notified they are on a waitlist for funding, which means that ISCB is fully expecting but still awaiting the formal confirmation of our grant award from one or more granting agency, and that awarding of those funds will not be possible until the grant needed to fund the travel fellowship is confirmed. Any waitlisted applicant that is eventually awarded funds will be offered the opportunity to register at the early registration rate, therefore, please do not register for the conference if your attendance is fully dependent on being awarded a travel fellowship as any cancellation of an applicant's registration will be subject to the full regular registration cancellation policy.
Funded applicants will be required to present evidence of their eligibility status (such as student identification card) when signing in with the Conference Fellowships Desk to record their attendance. In all cases, funds will be mailed to funded applicants after the conference per the details noted in Eligibility Requirements above.
Contacts
Questions regarding fellowships should be addressed to: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
The information on this page is subject to change without notice, and all changed information will be considered final for the purposes of awarding and funding of Conference Fellowships.
Contributors
The Conference Fellowships are made possible by generous donations from:
