Guest Post: From a Successful Travel Grant Applicant
[This post is from Bernard Appiah, who also provides the Tip of the Week for AuthorAID. As always, thank you, Bernard! —Barbara]
I have received 2 competitive travel grants this year. One was to attend the International Society for Blood Transfusion regional meeting in Amsterdam. The other was to attend the World Health Summit in Berlin. In the past 6 years, I also have received 4 other travel grants to attend international conferences.
Let me share my experience as a travel grant applicant.
First, for the travel grants requiring abstract submission, I already had an abstract accepted for presentation. I ensured that my abstracts strongly matched a theme or sub-theme of the conference.
Second, rather than submitting a generic CV, I always prepared a new CV highlighting achievements or information relevant to a conference. If an application required recommendation letters, I made sure that people providing letters were referees listed on my CV.
Third, if an application called for an essay, I carefully wrote it. Then, before submitting it, I read it several times, printed it, and read it again — checking that I had followed the guidelines. Often, I had to show that attending the conference would benefit not only me but also other participants and even people unable to attend. I showed my intention to share the learning acquired. And yes, after such conferences, I ensured I fulfilled my promise.
Fourth, although I enjoy working under pressure (no wonder I’m in part a science journalist), I could have missed out by submitting a travel-grant application minutes or hours before the deadline. One time, my e-mail failed to deliver the message 3 times in 5 hours before it went through!
Finally, I consider each travel grant application, including those rejected, a learning experience. I never give up. I wish you success in your travel grant applications.