The Postdoctoral Fellows Office (PDFO) is pleased to offer funding for postdocs currently appointed through UBC Vancouver. These awards are intended to assist PDFs with the costs associated with attending conferences to present research performed while at UBC.
Maximum Award Value:
As of April 11, 2022:
- Awards of up to a maximum of $250 CAD are available to postdocs for virtual conferences,
- Awards of up to a maximum of $500 CAD are available to postdocs for domestic travel within North America, and
- Awards of up to a maximum of $1000 CAD are available to postdocs for international travel.
Allowable Costs:
- Travel costs
- Accommodation expenses
- Meal expenses
- Conference registration fees
Update OCTOBER 6, 2021: UPDATE ON UBC TRAVEL GUIDELINES
Please contact the UBC Travel Program before booking any UBC-related travel for the most up-to-date and accurate information about UBC requirements and restrictions.
The PDFO continues to monitor the ongoing situation related to COVID-19. For the current quarter (FY 2022/23 Q2), applicants may apply for funding to attend virtual or in-person conferences.
Visit the UBC Travel Guide for information about travel, including current COVID-related requirements, policies, and procedures for UBC-affiliated travel.
Application Procedures
Prior to submitting a PDF Travel Award application, be sure to carefully review the eligibility criteria below. As indicated in the Eligibility Summary below, PDFs from the Faculty of Science and from the Faculty of Medicine submit applications directly to their respective faculties and not to the PDFO.
Applications for the PDF Travel Award are submitted online and takes approximately 15 minutes to complete. 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.
2022 Q2 PDF Travel Award Application Form
APPLICATION PROCESS
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 presentation (This should include correspondence from event organizers showing presenter name, date, type of presentation, and title of presentation).
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 accepted must be submitted to the PDFO 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 application is completed through the following tasks:
Part A: Applicant Information
- Applicant Name
- Email Address
- PDF Appointment Start Date
- PDF Appointment End Date
- Department/Unit
- Supervisor/PI Name
- Supervisor/PI Email Address
Part B: Funding Request
- Travel Award Amount Requested
- Conference Name
- Conference Location (including virtual conferences)
- If virtual, Conference Platform (Zoom, GoToWebinar, etc.)
- 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 "Lastname, Firstname – Travel Award Application" (eg. "Doe, John - Travel Award Application"). Photographs of applications or of any application components will not be accepted.
If your application is successfully submitted through Qualtrics, you should receive an email confirmation shortly after submission.
Deadlines
As of June 17, 2021 we have shifted how quarters are named to align with UBC’s fiscal year (April – March). This is a change in name and does not impact any application deadlines. If you have submitted an application prior to this change, no action is required.
Applications can be submitted up to 3 months in advance of the calendar quarter in which the virtual conference will occur. Please note the following dates for the upcoming fiscal year.
| Quarter in which CONFERENCE will occur | Dates applications are accepted |
|---|---|
| FY 2022/23 Q2 - July 1, 2022 to September 30, 2022 | April 1, 2022 to June 30, 2022 |
| FY 2022/23 Q3 - October 1, 2022 to December 31, 2022 | July 1, 2022 to September 30, 2022 |
| FY 2022/23 Q4 - January 1, 2023 to March 31, 2023 | October 1, 2022 to December 31, 2022 |
| FY 2023/24 Q1 - April 1, 2023 to June 30, 2023 | January 1, 2023 to March 31, 2023 |
Eligibility Requirements
This award is open to all Faculties and Units from UBC Vancouver (excluding all Departments/Units contained within the Faculty of Science and the Faculty of Medicine).
PDFs from the Faculty of Medicine must apply directly to the Faculty of Medicine. View Faculty of Medicine guidelines, procedures and deadlines.
PDFs from the Faculty of Science must apply directly to the Faculty of Science. View Faculty of Science guidelines, procedures and deadlines.
Eligibility:
In order to qualify for a PDF Travel Award, the following criteria must be met:
- The applicant must be accepted to present an oral presentation or poster at a conference and must be the 1st author of the accepted abstract
- No previous UBC PDF Travel Awards have been received by the applicant
- The research work being presented is work that has been conducted during the applicant’s postdoc tenure at UBC
- If presenting work that is very close to one's dissertation topic, one must be presenting original and new data obtained during their postdoc tenure at UBC.
- The applicant must be currently appointed through UBC Vancouver at the time of application and at the time of the conference
Applicants must agree to submit a 200-word report of the activity to the PDFO via email within 3 weeks of the conference, granting the PDFO permission to post this report on its website.
Evaluation Criteria
It must be clear to the adjudication committee that the research work being presented is work that has been conducted during the applicant’s postdoc tenure at UBC. Those who are presenting work that is very close to their dissertation topic must be presenting original and new data obtained during their postdoc tenure at UBC.
Award applications will be evaluated by the Adjudication Committee with the following criteria:
- Is the applicant doing an oral presentation or presenting a poster? Depending on the field, these two types of presentations might not be considered of equal rank.
- How innovative does this research appear to be?
- How strong is the applicant's publication record, in particular the number of publications and authorship?
- How important might the conference be to the applicant's professional development?
- Does the applicant already have conference funding? Please bear in mind that some postdoctoral fellow awards include discretionary research/travel funding, and this should be stated accordingly on their application.
- Has the applicant presented on a similar topic recently?
- How many conferences has the applicant had the opportunity to attend in the past year? Preference may be given to those who may not have had an opportunity to attend a conference.
Conference Reports
Files
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
| PDF Travel Award Conference Report | 286.5 KB |
| PDF Travel Award Reimbursement Form | 266.93 KB |