Student Assistance

Funds to assist student costs associated with conferences and observatories are available from the ASA and other sources.

The ASA provides limited support for students to attend a conference.  

Assistance to attend the Harley Wood School is provided through the meeting organisers. However, it is generally expected that institutions will fund student attendance at the Harley Wood School.

The amount of money per student and how it is divided is left to the discretion of the meeting organisers, operating within a set of guidelines. The aim is to roughly equalise the cost of travel for all attendees using the cheapest reasonable mode of travel. (e.g. students from Western Australia could expect more support to attend an east coast meeting than a Sydney student, who may get none). A contribution to accommodation may be considered if sufficient funds are available, but Registration is unaffected by distance and therefore not funded. There is little point awarding very small amounts to many people so, if necessary, preference will be given to ASA members over non-members. Non-members may register as a member providing the Secretary receives their membership application prior to the closure date for early HWS registration. Payment of annual membership fees must then be received within 14 days of the closure date. This is intended to encourage students in the first year of their candidature to attend the Harley Wood School. We hope and expect subsidised non-members to join after the meeting.

Enquiries should be directed to the meeting organisers. Claims must be submitted to the ASA Treasurer, accompanied by original receipts.

Student Travel/Conferences

Limited travel funds are available to assist student members of the ASA to attend overseas and domestic research meetings. This does not include the Society’s annual scientific meeting and Harley Wood School for Astronomy which have other sources of student support. Registration fees for online conferences can be supported.

There are two application deadlines per year – 31 March and 30 September.

Rules

  • A single travel application (conference or workshop) per person will be allowed over the students HDR candidature.
  • The maximum grant will be $1500. Students will not be guaranteed the maximum grant. The grants will be competitive.
  • Students must be at least 18 months into their candidature at the time of the travel.
  • Students must have been financial members of the ASA for at least 6 months before the travel commences.
  • Travel grants will only be awarded for “international” meetings either overseas or within Australia at which the student is presenting a poster or oral paper.

Students will need to explicitly list all “international” meetings that, during their HDR candidature, they have: (i) attended without presenting; and (ii) presented at, including the number of presentations and the forms of those presentation; the title, dates and locations of the meetings for both (i) and (ii). Students in the later stages of the candidature with little or no opportunity to travel will be prioritised when awarding grants.

Applications are required to be lodged in advance of travelling. In exceptional circumstances application may be for post-conference support, but the application must then be made within 1 month of returning and the 6-month mandatory membership period prior to departure must still have been met. Exceptional circumstances are limited to unforeseeable student out of pocket expenses arising from other funding sources not fulfilling their obligation or changes to the trip that could not have been avoided. Where a student has previously received a grant under this scheme exceptional circumstance funding will not be available.

Attendance at ASA meetings (eg the Annual Scientific Meeting, Chapter sponsored meetings) is not eligible for funding under this scheme.

How to apply

To apply for support a student must complete the ASA Student Travel Assistance Scheme Application Form (Excel) and send it to Dr Marc Duldig, Joint ASA Secretary (marc.duldig -@- utas.edu.au) with abstracts of any papers being presented and a full budget for the trip indicating all expenses, any other sources of funding and which funding will cover which expenses (a sample budget is here). The Excel form can be found at https://asa.astronomy.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/ASA-Student-Overseas-Conference-Support-application-form-V4-0.xlsx but we hope to have a web interface in future combined with the planned Awards and Prizes nomination page.

Students will also need to provide a list of all “international” conferences that, during their HDR candidature, they have: (i) attended without presenting; and (ii) presented at, including the number of presentations and the forms of those presentation; the dates and locations and travel funding sources of the conferences for both (i) and (ii). Where available copies of the registration receipt and paper acceptance notifications should be included. These will be required before travel commences for a grant to be processed. Students may add any other material they feel is important.

The supervisor must confirm under their signature that the information is accurate.

The Head of School (or equivalent) must confirm under their signature that the information is accurate and that the travel is supported and authorised by the institution.

After travel is completed a short report on the trip and the activities undertaken and the benefit to the student must be provided before the grant will be processed.

The ASA Treasurer will require emailed copies of receipts for amounts of equal or greater value than the grant and a covering claim form (obtainable from the ASA Treasurer). The Treasurer will then arrange for a transfer of the funds into your bank account or, if the amounts were paid on the student’s behalf by their home institution, make arrangement with the institution for an invoice to be issues to the ASA for payment.

Students are required to acknowledge the support of the ASA in any conference publication of their work or in any paper that arises from activities undertaken during the supported trip.

Other sources of funds for student travel are also listed on the Travel Assistance page of the ASA’s Australian Astronomy web site. Ask your supervisor and Research/Scholarships office for further details.