Trainee Travel Awards (Online & In-Person) 2023/2024 – Period 1 & 2

Period 1: July 1 to December 31, 2023
Period 2: January 1 to June 30, 2024

Description

Up to 30 awards are available this year for full-time U of T graduate students, undergraduate students, medical students, postdoctoral fellows, medical residents and clinical fellows to present a first-authored or co-first authored diabetes-related abstract at an online or in-person  conference. There are two funding periods:

Period 1: For online or in-person conferences occurring between July 1 and December 31, 2023.
Period 2: For online or in-person conferences occurring between January 1 and June 30, 2024.

Eligibility

• At the time of abstract submission to the conference, the trainee must be either a:
  – Registered, full-time University of Toronto graduate, undergraduate or medical student, or
  – Postdoctoral fellow having received a PhD within the last 8 years, or
  – Medical resident or clinical fellow having received an MD within the last 10 years
• The trainee’s primary supervisor must hold a faculty appointment with the University of Toronto at the level of assistant, associate or full professor and must also be a registered member* of the Banting & Best Diabetes Centre at the time of application submission. (*Faculty who are new to the field of diabetes research and are not members of the BBDC can request free membership by contacting the Centre prior to submitting an application. For more information, please see the Membership section of this website.)
• Trainees will be eligible for an award upon written confirmation of acceptance of a first-authored or co-first authored abstract for oral or poster presentation at an online or in-person national or international conference. Only one trainee per abstract may apply. In the case of two or more co-first authors, only the presenting author may apply.
• The content of the abstract must be directly relevant to diabetes.
• The primary supervisor must be the last author or co-corresponding author of the abstract.
• Trainees cannot submit the same abstract if the abstract was funded in a previous BBDC Trainee Travel Award competition.
• Only one award will be granted per trainee per BBDC fiscal year (July 1 to June 30). Therefore, trainees who receive a BBDC Travel Award in period 1 are not eligible to submit an application for period 2.
• Trainees may submit up to two different abstracts per competition. If submitting more than one abstract, please submit each abstract as a separate application package.
• Under normal circumstances awards will be limited to three per primary and/or co-supervisor per BBDC fiscal year (July 1 to June 30), although supervisors may submit more than three applications per year.

Relevance to Diabetes

This funding program supports original discovery-based fundamental or clinical research in diabetes that would be published in peer-reviewed scientific journals. Abstracts can include any aspect of laboratory, animal, human, or clinical or health services research. Areas of research which are considered relevant to diabetes include the pathogenesis of diabetes or its complications, homeostatic or pathological pancreatic islet function, or metabolism, pharmacological mechanisms of drug or hormone action, biochemical or molecular aspects of biological or pathological processes, or research in population health or health services.

Amount

Awards of up to $1,000 CAD are available per applicant.

Successful applicants presenting at an online conference will be reimbursed for conference registration fee and abstract submission fee after the conference has occurred. Receipts from the conference organizer must be provided.  Credit card statements alone will not be accepted.

Successful applicants presenting at an in-person conference will also be reimbursed for eligible travel expenses after the conference has occurred.  See below for a list of eligible and ineligible expenses. Copies of original receipts must be provided. Credit card statements alone will not be accepted.

Evaluation Criteria

Abstracts are reviewed by members of the Trainee Advancement & Development Committee (a sub-group of the Research Excellence Committee) and will be evaluated on the following criteria:

• Well-articulated objectives/hypotheses, methods, results, and conclusions
• Demonstration of novel findings
• Clearly described direct relevance of the work to diabetes
• A minor component of the evaluation may be based on any other criteria that the reviewers consider relevant to this competition.

Application Process

Email a completed application form, abstract, and abstract acceptance letter (if received) to the BBDC by the deadline date. See the application form for complete instructions.

 Download the BBDC Trainee Travel Award Application Form 2023-2024 and submission instructions (PDF)

If notification of abstract acceptance is not received before the application deadline date, please submit the application form and abstract to the BBDC by the deadline date, then forward a copy of the acceptance letter as soon as it is received. In the event that the abstract is not accepted for presentation, the application will be removed from consideration.

Application Deadlines

Period 1: For conferences occurring between July 1 and December 31, 2023 the deadline for receipt of applications is 4 p.m., October 3, 2023. Late or incomplete applications will not be considered.

Period 2: For conferences occurring between January 1 and June 30, 2024 the deadline for receipt of applications is 4 p.m., April 16, 2024. Late or incomplete applications will not be considered.

Notifications

Period 1: All applicants will be notified in November 2023. Funding decisions will also be posted on the BBDC’s website.

Period 2: All applicants will be notified in June 2024. Funding decisions will also be posted on the BBDC’s website.

Other Terms

Successful applicants will be reimbursed for expenses after the conference has occurred. Copies of original receipts must be provided. Credit card statements alone will not be accepted.

Reimbursement can be made payable to the trainee or to the supervisor’s institution if the expenses were paid from the supervisor’s grant.

Trainees are encouraged to apply for all other travel or conference awards and must accept other awards if offered. The BBDC will top-up other awards up to a maximum of $1,000 CAD only if the other award does not fully cover the trainee’s expenses.

Eligible Expenses*

*If conference is held in Toronto, reimbursement will only be provided for conference registration fee, abstract submission fee, poster printing, and public transportation or parking fees.

• Conference registration fee. A receipt from the conference organizers must be provided.
• Abstract submission fee. A receipt from the conference organizers must be provided.
• Return economy airfare. The receipt must document the flight itinerary and cost of airfare. Although boarding passes are not required, other acceptable documentation must be provided if claiming only airfare reimbursement (e.g., certificate of conference attendance, hotel bill, meal or taxi receipts at travel destination). IMPORTANT:  When personal travel is combined with business travel, the claimant will be reimbursed for only the business portion of the trip at the lowest available fare. Where the allocation of business versus personal travel is not clearly evident (e.g., a multi-destination airline ticket, stop-overs, extended stays, etc.), the trainee must obtain a separate airfare quote for the “business portion” of the airfare only at the same time as the actual airline booking. The airfare quote for the business portion of the trip will be the reimbursable amount, if this amount is lower. Failure to provide a quote for the business portion only will result in partial reimbursement of the airfare.
• Airline checked baggage fee (except excess or overweight baggage fees). Maximum of one checked baggage fee per flight.
• Rail or bus fare. Original ticket or receipt must be provided.
• Standard accommodations. A detailed invoice or statement of guest charges must be provided and must include check-in and check-out dates, room rate, taxes, method of payment, name of payer, and total amount paid (proof of payment). If the proof of payment is not provided on the invoice or statement of guest charges, then additional proof of payment documentation is required (e.g., copy of credit card statement). When personal travel is combined with business travel, the claimant will be reimbursed for only the business portion of the hotel stay. Reimbursement will not be provided for charges such as entertainment, internet, hotel amenities, fitness facilities, or laundry service.
• Taxi fares or shuttles
• Public transportation. Original ticket or receipt must be provided.
• Meals. A per diem allowance for meals may be claimed in lieu of actual costs. Receipts are not required to support the per diem allowance. The per diem should be claimed only when meal costs are incurred. It is not permitted to claim a full day per diem if the conference fees include a meal component, or if travel begins in the middle of the day or later. (For example, if the conference fees include breakfast, the trainee may claim the per diem for lunch and dinner only.)

• Use of personal vehicle if travelling outside of Toronto and less than 500 km from the Greater Toronto Area. Reimbursement of $0.57 per kilometer will be provided. All vehicle expenses are covered by the kilometrage rate including fuel costs, maintenance, repair and towing. Additional charges for parking, bridge and ferry tolls are eligible expenses. Reimbursement will only be provided to the vehicle owner.
• Rental car.  Rental cars should only be used when a personal vehicle is not available, or if less expensive transportation such as taxis or public transportation is not available at the destination. Only the renter of the car will be reimbursed for rental fees of a standard/midsize car (or smaller) and fuel.
• Parking fees if using a personally owned vehicle or car rental.
• Poster printing
• COVID-19 testing if required to enter the destination country.

Ineligible Expenses

• Local or long distance telephone calls
• Internet fees
• Fees for hotel services and facilities such laundry service and fitness centres
• Personal travel and medical insurance
• Passport or travel visa costs
• Excess or overweight baggage fees, seat selection fees, or change in flight fees
• Educational or other materials purchased at the conference
• Entertainment
• Poster storage tubes
• Sim Card or E-Sim Card
• Alcoholic beverages

Inquiries

Sanam Tajadod
Phone: (416) 978-3498
E-mail: [email protected]