The following awards provide funding for travel to the annual Evolution meeting. Travel award recipients are not eligible to volunteer at the conference.

SSE Undergraduate Diversity at Evolution Program
SSE Graduate Student and Postdoc Registration Waiver
SSE International Travel Stipends
SSE Global Membership Assistance Program - Meeting Participation
SSE Caregiver Awards 

SSE Undergraduate Diversity at Evolution Program

This travel award brings talented and diverse undergraduates to the meeting to present a poster, receive mentoring and participate in a career-oriented 'Undergraduate Futures in Evolutionary Biology' panel and discussion. The program covers travel, registration, and room and board. For more information and to submit an application visit the UDE webpage.

SSE Graduate Student and Postdoc Registration Waiver

This program is for graduate students and postdoctoral fellows interested in attending and presenting at the in-person annual Evolution meeting, especially those who need additional financial support in order to attend. This program replaces the SSE Graduate Student and Postdoc Travel Supplement. 

Requirements:

• Applicants must be a member of SSE
• Applicants must be enrolled in a graduate program OR be fewer than 6 years post-PhD without a permanent position
• Applicants must not have received the SSE Graduate Student and Postdoc travel supplement in 2024

Applicants requiring additional funding to attend the Evolution meeting will be randomly selected. If surplus funding is available, applicants not requiring additional funding will be randomly selected. Awards should be split between graduate students and post docs in the same approximate ratio of applications (i.e. if 20% of applicants are postdocs, 20% of awards go to postdocs).

To apply, please complete this form.

Deadline: March 15, 2025 

Recipients will receive a code for free registration for the in-person portion of the Evolution meeting at the early-bird society member student or postdoc rate. In 2025, the in-person portion of the Evolution meeting will be held in Athens, GA, USA  from June 20-24. Meeting registration is expected to open in February. Recipients will be selected and notified by March 30 and should be sure to register ahead of the early discount deadline.

SSE International Travel Stipends

These stipends are for students and young scientists to attend the in-person portion of the 2025 Evolution meeting in Athens, GA, USA on June 20-24, 2025. In years where ESEB meets separately from SSE, ASN, and SSB, the award may be used for either meeting. 

Eligibility: 

• You must be a member of SSE (for becoming a member of SSE, see https://payments.evolutionsociety.org/joinsse/).
• • SSE offers reduced or free membership fees for researchers in 152 countries and territories through the Global Membership Assistance Program.
  • Researchers who identify as racial or ethnic minorities, either in their country of origin or their country of residence, are eligible for free 2-year memberships through the SSE Membership Award.
• All career stages are eligible. Preference will be given to students and early-career researchers.
• You must submit to present either a talk or a poster at the meeting. (This will be verified before the reimbursement, but no proof that a poster or talk is accepted is necessary at the application stage.)
• You must not have received an SSE travel stipend in the last five years. 
• Scientists working in a country with high GDP are NOT eligible (for the list of excluded countries see below). 

Members professionally based in the following countries are not eligible for the travel stipend: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, China, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Luxemburg, Malta, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States of America.

NOTE: If you are a graduate student or postdoctoral fellow from a low GDP country, you are eligible to apply for the International Travel Stipend AND the Graduate Student and Postdoc Registration Waiver, though no one will be granted more than one award, as the International Travel Stipend includes a registration waiver. 

To apply, please submit the following materials: 

• The application, maximum 2 pages, containing
• Name of the applicant;
• Name of the conference applicant wishes to attend;
• A brief explanation of how attendance to the meeting will further the attendant’s professional goals;
• Brief CV
• Budget
• Letter of support from the applicant's advisor/mentor/senior colleague

Download a template for the budget here. Please include how many days you plan to stay. University dormitories will be one lodging option for meeting registrants; we encourage applicants to plan to use this option. Recipients will receive lodging funding up to the daily rate of the dormitory rate.

The application and budget should be included in a single PDF and emailed to the SSE International Committee Chair at international [at] evolutionsociety.org. The letter of support should be emailed to international [at] evolutionsociety.org by the letter writer.

Deadline: January 31, 2025

Applicants will receive decisions on their applications by the end of February. Recipients will receive a code for meeting registration. All other expenses will be reimbursed after the meeting following submission of receipts. Recipients will receive further instructions for reimbursement from the SSE Treasurer.
 

Global Membership Assistance - Meeting Participation

SSE is pleased to offer free registration for the virtual portion of the meeting to SSE members who reside in one of the 152 countries and territories eligible for the Global Membership Assistance program. Eligible members should request a discount code using the form on the Membership page. If you are not yet a member of SSE, please join before completing the form. Please apply as soon as possible if you plan to attend the meeting.
 

SSE Caregiver Awards

The SSE Caregiver Award is meant to assist members who have additional needs and responsibilities that can inhibit participation at the annual Evolution meeting. This award provides up to $500 to SSE members that need assistance in covering caregiver costs while attending the annual Evolution meeting (in person or virtually). A "caregiver" is broadly defined and includes people caring for children or dependent adults (including adult children with a disability or elderly relatives), and people in need of personal assistance; this award can be spent as the awardee wishes to facilitate attendance.

For example, this award can be used (but is not limited) to:

• bring someone who is in your care to the Evolution meeting
• bring someone who is helping to care for you to the Evolution meeting
• cover the cost of dependent care while you attend virtually
• cover the cost of dependent care at home while you travel
• cover any extra accessibility costs associated with attending

Awardees can spend this money in whatever way will help alleviate the cost of caregiving. We anticipate up to 20 awards will be made available, depending on the number of applicants. Apply here.

Deadline: March 15, 2025