The EPS recognises that some institutions do not provide funds to support researchers travelling to attend and / or present at academic conferences. The EPS Exceptional Travel Fund aims to support members’ access to EPS meetings.
To apply for the EPS Exceptional Travel Fund, you must be an ordinary EPS member whose institution does not provide any research funds to support attendance at scientific meetings, including the EPS (this includes an annual research allowance or access to internal funding schemes). Applicants will need to provide a letter from their Head of School or Director of Research to confirm that no funds are available.
A condition of the award is that applicants must be presenting either a poster or talk at the corresponding EPS meeting. It is expected that only one application will be submitted per ordinary member each year, though the Committee will consider further applications in exceptional circumstances.
Grants are strictly limited to a maximum of £500 per application. Funds will only be able to be used for travel and accommodation and do not cover subsistence.
Travel must be undertaken within the UK and it is understood that travel will be to / from the applicant’s normal residential address whilst attending or working at the institution where they have their primary affiliation. Where this is not the case, prior approval must be sought from the EPS administrator.
Given the number of ordinary members of the Society, the EPS will cap the number of awards and reserves the right to pause or close this scheme at any time.
You are allowed to claim for:
- The cost of travel, up to a maximum of £250, to and from the conference from your home institution for the duration of the conference, unless pre-agreed with the EPS Administrator, by the cheapest reasonable means, which as a rule does not include taxis or car parking fees. Where you are travelling more than one day outside the conference dates, or including stopovers on your journey you will need to provide additional evidence that the cost is no greater than the direct route / conference dates would be.
- Accommodation at a maximum rate of £60 per day. Accommodation reimbursement is limited to cover the period of the meeting (i.e. it is reasonable to assume 2 nights’ accommodation for a 3-day meeting and 3 night’s accommodation for a 4-day meeting, unless pre-agreed with the EPS Administrator).
If you are sharing any accommodation or travel arrangements, an email must be sent to the EPS Administrator with all the applicants involved Cc’d into the message. Sharing needs to be pre-agreed with the EPS Administrator.
EPS Exceptional Travel Fund reimbursement can only be made after the meeting in question has taken place.
Please note: no receipts – no reimbursement.
The fund cannot pay for expenses also reimbursed from another source.
EPS Exceptional Travel Funds are awarded to individuals. Reimbursements are made to the individual applicant, and it is not possible to reimburse institutions or third parties.
The EPS assumes that the recipient of the award will have in place their own travel insurance to cover the costs of any unforeseen alterations to their travel arrangements. The EPS will not be liable to reimburse travel and accommodation if you do not attend an in-person meeting after being awarded EPS Exceptional Travel Funding. You are advised to get travel insurance prior to booking to cover any costs which may arise if you are unable to attend. You may be able to obtain such cover through your institution’s travel insurance. If the meeting is cancelled after the award has been made, we will refund any costs that are within the scope of the original award, and that cannot be recouped by other means such as your travel insurance or travel / accommodation refund.
No travel or accommodation should be booked until after you have received confirmation of your EPS Exceptional Travel Funding. Please note that receipts are required for reimbursement. These should include VAT where applicable, VAT receipts may need to be requested following booking.
Applications for EPS Exceptional Travel Funding may be made at any time by completing the application form below.
EPS Exceptional Travel Fund – Application Form (Word)
EPS Exceptional Travel Fund – Application Form (PDF)
The completed form should be emailed to expsychsoc@kent.ac.uk as a single PDF file of the aggregated signed application material. Please use the following subject title: ‘EPS Exceptional Travel Fund Application – [Your Name]’.
Availability of finance from other sources must be evidenced in the form of a letter from the ordinary member’s Head of School or Director of Research to confirm that no funds are available from the institution. Application forms should reach the EPS Administrator at least 4 weeks before the date of the EPS meeting, and a decision will be made by the committee normally within two weeks of receipt of the application. Retrospective applications cannot be considered.
Reimbursement
Claims for reimbursement should be sent within two months of the meeting using the below expenses form. Receipts should be attached and combined into a single PDF file before being sent to the EPS Administrator.
EPS Exceptional Travel Fund – Expenses Form (Word)
EPS Exceptional Travel Fund – Expenses Form (PDF)
When sending the single PDF file of the aggregated documents and receipts, please use the following subject title: ‘EPS Exceptional Travel Fund Expenses – [Your Name]’.