The Society for the Study of Human Biology is offering financial grants to support the presentation of student research at academic and professional conferences. It is anticipated that two awards will be made per annum. Each award will be for a maximum of £500.

The Travel Prize is intended to cover or contribute to registration, accommodation and travelling expenses to an academic or professional conference at which the applicant will be delivering a first-authored oral paper or poster presentation based on their own research. Applications can be made for conferences that take place up to 12 months in the future. Retrospective applications are not permitted.

Those who receive a student travel prize are strongly encouraged to submit the work they presented to the Annals of Human Biology for publication. The submission can be in the form of a full paper or a short report and will be subject to the same editorial and review processes as other submissions.

 Applications are open to members of the Society who are currently registered as MPhil or PhD students. Applicants who are students but not members of the Society are permitted to apply for membership at the same time as they submit their Travel Prize application. Membership application forms can be found on the SSHB website, and will also be printed in the Annals of Human Biology from time to time.

Applications should include a short abstract (250 words), followed by a four page extended abstract describing the work  on which their presentation will be based. Please follow the detailed guidelines for the preparation of extended abstracts. Applications will be assessed in relation to the quality of the work submitted and the relevance of the topic to the aims and scope of the Society for the Study of Human Biology. Applications which fail to adhere to the guidelines will not be considered.  A coversheet should also be included, giving the name of the applicant, their supervisor’s name, institutional address, degree registered for and year of study. Applications must be accompanied by a letter of invitation from the conference organisers or official written confirmation that the applicant’s paper or poster has been accepted for inclusion in the conference programme, as well as documented evidence of the expenses required for registration, accommodation and travel. If written confirmation of acceptance of a poster or oral presentation is not available at the time of application, then payment of any travel grant awarded will be subject to the receipt of written confirmation. Details of acceptance of a paper or poster from the conference organiser must be sent to the treasurer of the SSHB by the applicant as soon as this is available. If these projected expenses exceed the maximum limit of the Travel Prize (£500), the applicant must also include a letter from their academic supervisor confirming that any outstanding balance will be met from other sources. All applications will be reviewed by referees appointed by the SSHB committee, none of whom can be staff at the institution at which the applicant is registered as a student.

The deadline for submission of applications is 1st December and 1st June each year. All applications should be sent to the Treasurer of the SSHB. Applicants will be informed of the outcome of their application within three months of submission.

Cover page: please include your name, institutional address, the degree you are registered for, year of study and your supervisor’s name.

Short abstract: please provide a structured abstract of no more than 250 words, including the headings: background/aim; subjects and methods; results; conclusion.

Extended Abstract: The extended abstract must be no longer than four sides of A4, size 12 font and 1.5 line spacing. The work should be sufficiently detailed for the reviewers to judge the merits of the paper. The application should include a description of the topic to be studied, the theoretical focus the data and research methods and the expected findings. The following headings may be included: introduction; materials and methods; results; discussion, but the length of each section will depend on the stage of study. Students who do not yet have results should give an indication of the framework for analysis and interpretation of findings and potential impact of the work in the discussion.
Conference budget: please include documented evidence of the expenses required for registration, accommodation and travel. If the projected expenses exceed the maximum limit of the Travel Prize (£500), the applicant must also include a letter from their academic supervisor confirming that any outstanding balance will be met from other sources.
Confirmation of acceptance of paper by conference organisers.