Apply for a Travel Award

Prospective ABRCMS Student Travel Award applicants must satisfy the following criteria:

• Must be a U.S. citizen or U.S. permanent resident, and
• Must be a first-time ABRCMS in-person presenter, and
• Must submit an abstract (poster, oral, or ePoster) for ABRCMS 2026, and 
• Must be 18 years old or older as of Nov. 18, 2026, and 
• Must be one of the following educational levels as of Nov. 18, 2026:  
  • Community College student 
  • Undergraduate student 
  • Postbaccalaureate student 
  • Gap-year student 
  • Graduate student 

Note: Students that are fully funded by a grant or a university program are not eligible to apply for/accept an ABRCMS Student Travel Award.  

A complete ABRCMS Student Travel Award application includes the following essays. Each essay is limited to 1,000 characters, this includes spaces.  

• Describe efforts you have made towards receiving financial support to participate in ABRCMS from your institution or other sources.  
• Describe your reasons for attending ABRCMS 2026 and plans for preparing yourself for ABRCMS. 
• Describe your research experience, include the following: your specific role in the project, how your research contributed to the overall research mission of the lab and how long you were involved in conducting this research.
• Describe your plans after completing your studies. Discuss how you are preparing yourself to accomplish these plans. Why did you choose this career path? Be sure to connect your studies with other experiences (i.e. research opportunities, internships, volunteer work, or employment).

All applications will be reviewed and evaluated by the following criteria: 

1. Research Experience 
2. Suitability to Program
3. Advanced Training & Career Goals
4. Funding Needs

ABRCMS Student Travel Award Review Rubric

Full Travel Award (limited): 

• Conference registration (in-person), AND 
• Housing (shared room) at one of the conference hotels assigned by ABRCMS staff from Wednesday, Nov. 18 – Sunday, Nov. 22, AND 
• Travel to Seattle, WA booked through the ABRCMS Travel Agency  

Partial Travel Award: 

• Registration (virtual or in-person), Housing (shared room), OR Travel as determined by ABRCMS staff 

Note: 

• Meals outside of the scheduled conference meals are not included in the travel award package. 
• Awardees are required to share a room with a fellow travel awardee as assigned by ABRCMS staff. Roommate requests can be submitted through the travel award application and accepted up until Sept. 11.  
• Transportation to and from the airport is not included in the Travel Award package. Awardees are responsible for making their own arrangements. 
• Travel includes airfare or Amtrak booked through the provided ABRCMS travel agency. Travel purchased outside of the ABRCMS travel agency will not be reimbursed. 

ABRCMS Student Travel Awardees are required to:  

• Attend the ABRCMS Travel Awardee Orientation virtual webinar (Oct.)  
• Attend the ABRCMS Conference Orientation virtual webinar (Nov.)  
• Attend the ABRCMS Travel Awardee Meet-up (Nov. 18 at 6:00 pm PT)
• Participate in all conference sessions and activities (Nov. 18-21)  
• Present your poster/oral/ePoster presentation at your assigned time (Nov. 18-21) 
• Provide feedback through the post-conference survey (Nov. 22) 

In addition to the items listed above, graduate awardees that have passed their qualifying exams are also required to:   

• Serve as a judge in at least three poster sessions during ABRCMS 2026   

Note: Failure to complete the requirements will result in being removed from the Student Travel Award Program.   

A notification email will be sent by Monday, Oct. 5 regarding the final status of your application.

Submit a Student Travel Award application here.