Travel Awards for PhD students: why and where you should apply

What a busy month! One may have guessed by now that I apply for a lot of travel grants. This is a must right now in the UK, and if I'm not mistaken, a must in pretty much every research institute in the world at this particular moment in time. Travel is expensive, and getting funding from outside your group can be key to attending more conferences. 

In this spirit, I applied for the Moreton Travel Award (this year one could apply for a maximum of £650) and was awarded £620 to attend the International Pulsar Timing Array Conference in Krabi, Thailand. This is awarded by the School of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Birmingham.

Due to the vast expense of this particular conference (mostly just getting to Thailand is expensive, staying there is rather cheap!), I also applied to the Royal Astronomical Society's (RAS) Research and Grants fund to further offset the cost of this meeting to my group and was awarded £1000.

So far, I have been successful in obtaining the following travel awards: the RAS's Research and Grants Fund, the Institute of Physics', IoP Research Student Conference Fund, the IoP's C. R. Barber Trust Award and Universitas 21 (check if your Uni is a member) and so could you! I strongly encourage physics graduate students in the UK to regularly apply for to these awards. Also, check your College / School / Department for funding to defray the costs of your travels. It looks good on your CV and your group will thank you!

American grad students, you can apply for the APS Physics travel grant for $500! Next deadline is May 20th, so get your buts in gear.

So far I've been able to wrangle £6,970 out of Birmingham's School of Physics and Astronomy (via the Moreton Award), the RAS and the IoP. If I can do it, so can you!