ACA Travel Grant Program

The ACA is committed to supporting early-career scientists and is once again offering travel grants for eligible students to help offset the costs of attending ACA2025. Applications are now open!

Our travel grant program provides financial assistance to undergraduate and graduate students, as well as postdoctoral researchers, who seek to broaden their academic experience by participating in the ACA Annual Meeting. These grants help cover travel and related expenses, ensuring that more aspiring scientists have the opportunity to engage with the structural science community.

The deadline to submit an application is April 28, 2025!

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ACA Travel Grant Process

The Travel Grant application period for ACA2025 will open in February 2025 and close on April 28, 2025. Applicants must apply and be accepted, with preference given to those presenting a paper.

After the deadline, all grant applications are reviewed and scored by the ACA Education Committee. While scores are based on multiple factors, we particularly encourage applications from first-time attendees who have not previously received a travel grant, senior graduate students or postdoctoral researchers entering the job market, and individuals presenting a talk at ACA2025. Scoring considers both the merit of the proposed contribution and its potential impact on the ACA meeting as a whole.

We strive to support as many research groups as possible and welcome multiple applications from the same lab. However, due to funding limitations, we may not be able to award grants to multiple attendees from the same group.

Additionally, we encourage applications from individuals historically underrepresented at the annual meeting, including those based in South America, Africa, and other non-North American regions.

After the review process, final scores and funding recommendations are submitted to the ACA Treasurer, who determines the award amounts. Once grants are finalized, ACA Headquarters will notify applicants of the results via email.

Application

Before submitting your application, please ensure you have the following items ready:

  • Previous Travel Grant Details: If you have received a travel grant before, be prepared to provide the year and the awarded amount.

  • ACA2025 Abstract (if applicable): If you are submitting an abstract for ACA2025 (have a PDF ready to attach to your application).

  • Personal Statement: A document outlining your experiences, goals, and reasons for applying (have a PDF ready to attach to your application).

  • Advisor Information: Your advisor’s name, email, and a supporting letter (have a PDF ready to attach to your application).

    Please note that you can submit your application without the advisors letter or abstract (if you have not yet submitted it) but that both must be provided prior to March 31st otherwise the application will be deemed incomplete and not evaluated.

We understand that covering your registration costs while applying for a travel grant can be challenging. If you need assistance or extra time to complete your registration, please reach out to the ACA. We're here to support you and will do our best to accommodate your needs. Contact us as soon as possible so we can help!

Early career scientists play a crucial role within the ACA, and alongside our own travel grant fund, the IUCr generously provides additional funds to support their attendance to the ACA Annual Meeting in 2025.

The following statement on gender balance was proposed by the Executive Committee and approved by the General Assembly of the IUCr at the 24th Congress and General Assembly in Hyderabad, 2017: Gender balance and the IUCr

The International Union of Crystallography strives to achieve gender balance in all its institutions and activities bearing in mind other diversity needs and its existing obligations to geographic and academic discipline representation where appropriate.

To achieve this aim the IUCr will adopt procedures to promote gender balance in respect of all of its activities including selection of candidates for positions on its Committees and Commissions. Those seeking support from the Union for Congresses, meetings, workshops and schools will also have to demonstrate their efforts to address gender balance.