SAFE Labs

IRIBHMComputationalLabs_2026:

Each postdoctoral researcher and PhD student typically has a budget to attend conferences every year, the amount of which depends on the funding scheme. For those full lab members without funding for conferences, the lab will try and cover their costs on a case-by-case basis to be discussed with the supervisors.

Lab members are expected to submit an abstract when attending events (where applicable), at least for a poster, ideally for oral presentations.

Typically, both PhD students and postdoctoral researchers are expected to attend at least one scientific event every year.

Anonymous lab:

Discuss your conference interests with [the PI], and prepare a budget and justification (what will you gain by participating, what will you be presenting?). It is our goal that everyone should be able to participate in at least one local or regional conference each year (e.g. [a regional society meeting]) and one national or international conference at least once during their degree.

[The graduate school] gives graduate students up to $500 to reimburse travel costs through the Graduate Student Travel Fund, once per degree program.

ErnstGroup_2026:

One of the perks we have as academics is travel (although it comes with its own drawbacks!). We have limited money for travel, you can help as follows:

• Apply for UVic travel grants as soon as you know your paper will be accepted (note for workshop or short papers, I may not be able to fund you, so check before assuming you can go).
• Book your flights early and look for cheap flights. Use the cheapest airline and option (e.g. Tango with Air Canada). Check with me about any restrictions for your project/grant.
• Try to share hotel rooms for expensive conferences, or look for cheaper hotels and AirBNB that are close by (but don’t stay in unsafe neighbourhoods).
• Apply to be a student volunteer at a conference and get free registration.
• Use public transportation or shuttles instead of expensive taxis, or share taxis. Obviously there are exceptions here (such as late at night or very awkward destinations).
• UVic allows per diems, but if you can find cheaper options for food that is still nutritious please submit the lower amount. In fancy hotels, look around for cheaper breakfast options. However, sometimes there are none, I know!
• Avail of the free food at the conferences, check if there is breakfast and other meals provided. If there are meals provided, I won’t be able to reimburse you. Yes you can go to the banquet for the conference if one is offered (networking at banquets is important :) ). Some conferences don’t include the banquet with student rates, so add it!
• In general keep costs low in a reasonable way as it adds up quickly as a group! If you do this, I can send more of you to more conferences! If in doubt though, ask!

Note: Do not assume that your travel can be funded—please ask me before committing to anything!

GribbleLab_2026:

Generally our model is that to attend a conference, your research project should be sufficiently developed such that it makes sense to present a poster or give a talk. This is something that we will decide together.

We generally do not submit “prospective” abstracts in which we promise either data or findings that we do not already have obtained at the time of submitting the abstract.

By the abstract submission deadline, we must have enough data collected, and enough analysis complete, that we are very confident in the results and findings.

This can be challenging because often deadlines for abstracts are many months in advance of the conference itself. That said, learning to work backward from firm deadlines is an essential skill, not just in grad school, but in any career. Conference deadlines provide a concrete target to plan around, and can be a useful forcing function for making steady progress on a project. Treating these dates seriously, and building in buffer time for the unexpected, is good practice for navigating the many real-world deadlines you will encounter throughout your professional life.

We often attend SFN and NCM each year. If there is another meeting or meetings that you would like to attend, that is a possibility, budget permitting. Typically trainees attend 1 major meeting per year.

LRCNLab_2026:

Under no circumstances are students ever expected to self-fund travel to a conference where they are presenting their work. However, please check with me prior to submitting your work to a conference to be certain I can fund your attendance. A local conference might cost several hundred dollars to attend and a national or international conference might cost over one thousand dollars. I can subsidize at least one conference per year, and your home department will generally also offer $250 per student per year (for students in psychology, find more information here). There are also travel scholarships available for many of the conferences. Information about these scholarships is usually available from conference websites.

To maximize the experience and minimize expense, I may ask you to room share with other graduate students. This can create problems that I am unaware of due to issues that include specific privacy needs or concerns of harassment. If some room-sharing arrangements are not possible for you, please discuss it with me privately so that I can accommodate you.

MayorLab_2026:

Meeting & Conference Participation: Each lab member should participate to a symposium or conference once a year or two years (national or international), providing there is sufficient funds available. While a poster presentation is not expected the first year, submission of an abstract for poster and/or oral presentation is required afterwards. Traveling and meeting registration is supported by the lab budget and external funds. Trainees should indicate which meeting(s) they would like to participate during their yearly IDP meetings.

MindaLab_2026:

7.1 Conference Funding A local conference might cost several hundred dollars to attend and a national or international conference might cost over one thousand dollars. I can subsidize at least one conference per year, and the Psychology Department also offers $250 per presenting student, per year. There are also travel scholarships available for many of the conferences. Information about these scholarships is usually available from conference websites. To maximize the experience and minimize expenses, please share a room with other graduate students. Please save every receipt: hotel, taxi, flight, meal, etc. These are needed to complete a travel reimbursement. It is your responsibility to complete the reimbursement form. I’ll be notified when it’s complete and can approve it. Please discuss reimbursement prior to attending in order to ensure that I have budgeted for the trip.

RollinsonLab_2026:

The costs (registration, accommodation, transportation, but not food or per diems) up to $1000 of at least one national meeting per year for all graduate students will be covered if you have original research to present that I helped you with, just ask before booking.

SFUGlaciologyGroup_2026:

As a student or postdoc, you can generally expect to be supported to attend conferences when you have something new and substantial to present. Exceptions include the occasional local/regional meeting and the Annual Meeting of the Northwest Glaciologists (one Friday and Saturday every October), where all students are expected to attend every year the meeting is within driving distance, and give talks after their first year. MSc students making steady research progress should generally attend one important conference in their final year (e.g. AGU Fall Meeting). PhD students should generally attend one important conference per year (e.g. AGU, EGU, an IGS symposium) once substantial research progress has been made.

VORTEXLab_2026:

The availability of lab funding will change year-to-year, although I value conference experience for graduate students and will try to fund at least one conference per year for graduate trainees (e.g., at minimum OEP or CSEP)

CNIDevoLab_2025:

We encourage all lab members to seek and apply for training opportunities to develop new expertise and networking, and we values initiatives to disseminate the lab research at conferences or outreach events. Depending on funding availability and specific circumstances, we aim at providing one opportunity per year to each lab members – this of course remains as a rule of thumb and strategies will be discussed case by case.

We expect lab members to discuss their intentions prior to applying to any event, in order to define priorities, agree on the budget and the eventual work that will be disseminated. We consider conferences and courses as an enriching opportunity, and we expect any lab member attending such an event to make the best use of it. Also for this reason, in general we encourage lab members to present their scientific results, even if of course several factors need to be considered, such as the stage of the project.

Individual fellowships might include an additional budget for conferences and courses, but in general we provide equal travelling opportunities to lab all members. We encourage lab members to seek for additional funding in order to cover the costs, and to behave responsibly with regard to travel expenses.

OttLab_2025:

Conferences are an important part of your science life. Let me know if you want to attend a conference in advance. As a graduate student your goal is to attend 1-2 international conferences to present your work (poster or talk). This is typically during the second half of your thesis. Your graduate program might support conference registration and/or travel costs when you present. For postdocs networking becomes another important aspect. I support about one international conference per year (if funding permits). Make use of Berlin’s and Germany’s local conferences! The threshold for attending these is much lower. Let me know if you want to attend. After the conference, share a particular exciting talk/poster/insight from the conference at the next lab meeting as your update!

PHASELab_2026:

For PhD students I will make sure you have the opportunity to attend at least one international conference and one local conference during your PhD, and for postdocs at least one conference per year. Please note that I expect you to apply for any available scholarship options or funding support that would enable you to attend. This is sometimes offered through the conference itself, sometimes by societies (e.g the German Plant Breeding society) and sometimes by external funding (e.g. DAAD). Conference attendance is also dependent on whether you have anything to present: in most cases first-year PhD students probably won’t have sufficient results yet for this, although I may make an exception for a once-in-four-years conference depending on circumstances. If you attend a conference I will also expect you to be able to give an oral presentation, not just present a poster. In both cases though the presentation should be sent to me in advance to check before submission, as should the conference abstract (at least 1-2 weeks before). Oral presentations should also be practiced within our research group beforehand.

TiroshLab_2026:

Additionally, PhD students and postdocs have travel allowances. PhD students receive $2000 for travel following submission of their research proposal and $2250 following submission of their interim report. For postdocs, the annual allowance is $2000 yearly and the calendar year starts on 1 October.

ReinhardLab_2025:

Attendance at conferences is a crucial part of science to build networks, to learn about new fields, the obtain the latest updates, to disseminate results and to find new positions. Lab members are encouraged to attend conferences – conference attendance time is work time! As a rule of thumb, lab members should present at least a poster if they want to attend a conference, but exceptions can be discussed. PhD candidates and postdocs are also requested to plan ahead far enough so that there is time to apply for travel grants. Details can be found as well in section “Equal access to resources”.

RossiLab_2025:

I encourage all lab members to seek and apply for training opportunities to learn new expertise, and values initiative to disseminate the lab research at conferences.

TRAINING/SCHOOLS: I support both PhD students and postdoctoral researchers to apply and attend at least one competitive training school during their tenure in the lab. I will sponsor applications (e.g. with recommendation letters) to these initiatives when they align with a project interest or planned career development. Expression of interested must be communicated in time to apply for travel grants/fees waivers, and in any case 1 month in advance. When funds are available, and application to fees waivers are not successful, the lab will cover the costs.

CONFERENCES: I encorage PhD students and postdoctoral researchers to attend at least 1 conference per year to disseminate our work, learn the state of the art in the field, and expand our networks. To sponsor and finance conference attendances, I require lab members to submit an abstract and present at least a poster. Exceptions to this rule can be allowed on the first year of tenure in the lab, but must be discussed on a case by case basis. Each postdoctoral researcher and PhD student has a budget of £1000 per year to attend conferences/workshops/symposia. This can be accumulated across years if that is the preference, and can be used for one expensive conference or multiple inexpensive conferences. If lab members have additional funds through grants or their PhD programme, these can be used in addition to the £1000 annual budget. Federico is happy to make an exception to this rule and provide extra funds if allowed by current grants, and an excellent opportunity arises (e.g. a unique conference, an invitation to give a prestigious talk) that would exceed this budget, but lab members should discuss with Federico before making any commitments.

Research assitants, master’s students and undergraduates are also encouraged to attend conferences if they have work to present. They should discuss these opportunities in advance with Federico. Often, there are grants available from conference organisers to support attendance, and if this is not the case, or the application for funds is unsuccessful, I will consider funding attendance on a case-by-case basis.

KiharaLab_2026:

【学会】

学会に参加したい場合は奨励する。参加した以上はできるだけ多くの発表を聞く。院生には参加費と交通費を全額補助する。

English translation:

[Conferences]

If you want to attend a conference, you are encouraged to. Once you are there, listen to as many talks as you can. Graduate students’ registration and travel costs are covered in full.

KitazakiLab_2026:

B4の最後あるいはM1のうちに1−2回国内会議あるいは国際会議で研究成果を発表することが一般的です。そして、これまでに所属した学生の半分以上が在学中に国際会議で研究発表をしています。年に2回以上発表した学生も少なくありません。

English translation:

It is common to present research results once or twice at a domestic or international conference by the end of the fourth undergraduate year (B4) or during the first year of the master’s (M1). More than half of the students in the lab so far have presented at an international conference while enrolled, and quite a few have presented twice or more in a year.

TreurLab_2025: The full document is still under construction, but as an example some snippets are provided here:

For PhD students, relevant courses can be followed through the Amsterdam UMC Doctoral school but there are also other (inter)national options. We will decide together with you which courses are the most useful (and there needs to be sufficient budget available). Some possible options are the summer the International Statistical Genetics Workshop in Boulder, or short courses in Population Health Sciences at Bristol Medical School.

Scientific conferences that we often attend and may be interesting for you to present your research at are the annual conference of the Behavior Genetics Association (BGA) (the BGA will be in Amsterdam in 2026), the annual meeting of the World Congress of Psychiatric Genetics, and the Mendelian randomization conference in Bristol. Other than that, there may be many different possible conferences more focused on your topic of research that could be interesting. Please feel free to share with the group when you come across potentially interesting conferences.

We encourage everyone to apply for grant opportunities that allow you to fund your own trip, for instance this one for PhD students at Amsterdam UMC. This will increase (y)our budget to attend workshops and it is great practice to try and obtain some small grants early on in your career!

INSIGHTLab_2026:

Each lab member has a conference budget of at least XXX/year. It is expected that lab members attend at least one conference per year. To attend a conference, the lab member must present at the conference.

LifespanCognitiveDynamicsLab_2026:

If you are a funded lab member we have resources to cover registration, travel and accommodation. The general guideline is that I can cover approximately 1 ‘proper’ (multi day, outside the Netherlands) conference per year. In general you should go to a conference to present your work from the lab as either a poster, talk or symposium, and of course to attend other talks and posters of interest. For more local conferences (Netherlands or nearby) more is certainly possible. The general process is that you a) discuss with Rogier your plans or options and then b) book your own travel and reimburse it through Declaree. This is a suboptimal process as it puts undue financial strain on early career scholars. If the finances for a trip are a problem, come speak to me to see what we can do - it is possible to receive an advance from the RadboudUMC.

UraiLab_2026:

I encourage all lab members to seek and apply for training opportunities to develop new expertise. This is often at conferences, but can also be through research visits (e.g. with collaborators) or by giving invited talks.

Each postdoc and PhD student has a standard budget (see CogPsy wiki) per year to travel and attend conferences; individual funding and grant situations may change this somewhat. Typically, I expect both PhD students and postdoctoral researchers to attend a competitive training school and/or a conference by the end of their second year in the lab. Make sure to discuss your plans, and ask Anne for information on travel cost reimbursements.

Master’s or BSc students are also encouraged to attend conferences if they have work to present - please discuss plans with me in advance.

Neurolinguistics-UZH_2026:

One of the perks of academia is occasional travel to share findings, collaborate and network. Unfortunately, traveling is not free, and has to be funded somehow. Decisions on travel should be taken with an eye on your core work and on financial constraints. Here are the main cases:

• Invitation: Your travel costs are borne in full by your host.

• Conference/Workshop: Borne from project funding.

• When employed on a project, the expectation is one international conference per year, alternating Europe and non-Europe. Attendance at local and national conferences such as SSN can usually be covered. Typically, attendance can only be funded if you have an accepted presentation.

• Training: Attendance at paid courses can sometimes be supported. They should be directly relevant to your work and should not replicate content available locally.

LienLab_2026:

Students in the Lien Lab are required to attend the annual biomedical meeting (held between February and March) in National Defense University or poster exhibition and competition (held June) in YM University before obtaining their Master or PhD degrees.

MarshallLab_2026:

It is up to you to decide what training you need and what conferences you would like to go on. I can recommend various courses and conferences depending on your interests. You will have a certain budget as part of your PhD specifically for this, it is for you to manage as you see fit. However, I can help you apply for society funding to cover as much as possible, enabling you to save your PhD travel money for a ‘big conference’ – with travel, accommodation, registration etc. these can be about £2000-£2500. One suggested idea if you’re planning a career in academia:

• Year 1: training course in a key skill you need
• Year 2: one national conference and one smaller training course or extra conference
• Year 3: one big international conference (Europe, USA, Australia etc.) – this is best saved until the end of your PhD as they’re a good place to network for jobs and there will likely only be enough budget to do one of these

MetaLab_2026:

Let Steve know if you want to attend a conference, apply for a (travel) grant, or give a talk - the answer is often yes, but it’s good to discuss well in advance, particularly if funding is needed. A general rule is that funding for conference attendance requires presenting work you have worked on within the lab, typically when projects are nearing completion. Steve will make sure that his travel schedule is in the lab calendar, so that you will know when he is around to meet.

RadzisheuskayaLab_2025:

I encourage all lab members to participate in conferences and courses. If you find a conference or course that interests you, please feel free to discuss the possibility of attending with me.

However, our travel budget is quite limited, as is typical for junior labs. Attending a national conference on a yearly basis is usually feasible, but large international conferences tend to be more expensive. Therefore, you should expect to attend an international conference approximately once every three years. If you’d like to attend more frequently, you can seek additional funding through ICR student, postdoc, and SO associations, or professional societies such as Genetics or Biochemistry.

We will decide if presenting at conferences is appropriate based on the status of your project.

If you travel abroad for business purposes, contact HR in advance to obtain travel insurance information.

CoenLab_2025:

Conference attendance Each postdoctoral researcher and PhD student has an annual budget of £1000 to attend conferences. This can be accumulated across years if that is the preference, and can be used for one expensive conference or multiple inexpensive conferences. Lab members should discuss their conference plans with me before committing to attend a particular meeting. Lab members do not need to present anything when attending their first conference after joining the lab, but should present at any future conferences, or organize a workshop/symposium, if they are planning to attend. If lab members have additional funds through grants or their PhD programme, these can be used in addition to the £1000 annual budget. I am happy to make an exception to this rule and provide extra funds if allowed by current grants, and an excellent opportunity arises that would exceed this budget (e.g. a unique conference, an invitation to give a prestigious talk). Lab members are encouraged to supplement this funding with applications to grants, either from the conference itself (e.g. fee waivers for new attendees), or from external sources.

Master’s students, undergraduates, and lab technicians are also encouraged to attend conferences if they have work to present. They should discuss these opportunities in advance with me. Often, there are grants available from conference organisers to support attendance, and if this is not the case, or the application for funds is unsuccessful, I will consider funding attendance on a case-by-case basis.

Summer schools and courses: Typically, I expect both PhD students and postdoctoral researchers to attend a competitive training school and/or a conference by the end of their second year in the lab. The lab will support applications (e.g. with recommendation letters) to these initiatives when they align with a project or planned career development. When funds are available, and application to fees waivers are not successful, the lab will cover the costs for at least one such opportunity. Some courses that can help to develop the experimental and computational skills we use in the lab include:

SuperLab_2026:

Conferences, workshops, and other training opportunities (e.g. summer schools) are valuable resources for dissemination, acquiring new expertise, networking, and career development. Lab members are encouraged to attend at least one regional or international conference per year.

Lab members are encouraged to apply for additional funding (e.g. travel grants) to attend conferences and/or courses.

If you find a conference, symposium, or course that you feel will greatly benefit your project or career, feel free to discuss it with Reshanne.

As a general rule, conference attendance requires submission of an abstract. All abstracts should be reviewed and approved by Reshanne before submission.

AeryJonesLab_2026:

• Every lab member can travel to present at one conference per year. If you want attend more than one conference in a single year or travel to a conference without presenting something, discuss with me so we can determine how we can fund your travel in a way that’s fair to other lab members. These trips are fully funded; I only support travel if I can reimburse 100% of transportation, meals, and hotels.
• Each lab member can attend 1 major external workshop during their time in lab (e.g. Neuromatch) with a tuition budget of about $1000 per person. Tuition for additional courses will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

AlyLab_2026:

Mariam will fund up to two conferences a year if you are presenting, more if some are regional and do not require overnight stays or air travel. Typically, she can fund conferences within North America. Mariam typically does not fund conference travel if you wish to attend but are not presenting; the exception is regional conferences (like the Bay Area Memory Meeting). Reimbursable expenses include membership and submission fees, registration fees, poster printing fees, travel and lodging, and per diem. Reimbursements are capped at maximum ~$2,000 for multi-day conferences that require overnight stays and air travel, and less for conferences that do not require air travel. Ask Mariam how much she can reimburse before making your travel arrangements, and plan accordingly

BIRDLab_2026:

If you’re first author on a lab paper that year, the lab will typically fund one relevant conference per calendar year (subject to available funds).

CognAcLab_2026:

All members are entitled to attend one conference/workshop per year. While it is anticipated that the person will present at the conference, it is not essential. However, when no presentation is made, or for workshops, the lab member should first obtain approval from Ivry. Conference/workshop expenses covered include travel, lodging, registration, poster production costs, and a reasonable per diem. Lab members are responsible for procuring travel tickets in timely manner to be economical and act responsibly on expenses. C. Lab members can request support to attend additional conferences/workshops. These require approval in advance from Ivry who will take into consideration value for professional development as well as the lab member’s overall annual budget request for the academic year. In some cases, expenses related to additional travel may result in a hybrid model (partial coverage), depending on priority/expense of conference. D. Lab members who contribute to their own funding (e.g., extramural fellowship) will receive priority to attend additional conferences/workshops. This is one “perk” of obtaining fellowships.

ContextualDynamicsLab_2026:

If you are presenting your work from the lab (i.e., you are the presenting author for a talk or poster), then your travel expenses and conference registration fees will be guaranteed by the lab, under the assumption that you will also make reasonable efforts to seek out alternative sources of travel funding (e.g. through PBS, other internal Dartmouth sources, applying for travel awards, using personal grants like NRSAs or NSF fellowships, etc.). You are also expected to keep costs low (e.g. fly economy class, seek out cheaper tickets, stay in reasonably priced hotels, share a room with other lab members, etc.). By the same token, we also want to be cognizant of your comfort and time, and it is not always necessary to use the cheapest option. More specific travel guidelines will be given on a per-conference or per-trip basis.

If you are not presenting your work (or if you’re presenting non-lab work), but you are a senior lab member, then the lab may cover your travel expenses to a limited number of conferences each year. These should be discussed on a case-by-case basis with Jeremy.

If you are a junior lab member not presenting your work, the lab will generally not pay for you to attend conferences. However, if you are interested in attending a conference, and you aren’t able to secure funding through non-lab sources, you should discuss your options with Jeremy.

DiffenbaughClimateLab_2026:

Graduate students should expect the advisor to be able to fund one conference per year, with the possibility of additional funds depending on the circumstances (with additional funds prioritized later in the PhD when preparing to apply for post-PhD employment). Students should apply for travel funds when available.

EcometeorologyLab_2026:

Build independent external collaborations to help advance your scholarship goals, through networking, conference attendance, and regular attendance at department and campus seminars, colloquia, collaborator visits (talks, group meetings, dinners), and events, and learn from those to support building our scholarship.

• In return, I will provide to researchers, including students, funding for you to attend at least one national conference per year, help defray cost of any meals or transportation for events, and be sure to include you in opportunities to meet collaborators.

KirbyLab_2026:

Assuming funding allows, I will financially support attendance at one conference per year where you present your first author work from this lab. If there are more conferences in a particular year that you think warrant your presence and presentation, we can discuss that on a case-by-case basis. I will also attend conferences regularly and present your work with proper credit to you as the scientist who spearheaded it.

LaBellaLab_2026:

• All conference attendance decisions are dependent on the financial situation in the lab, which can change rapidly
• Priority is given to Postdocs, PhD students, and students with independent funding sources.
• Postdocs and PhD students should aim to attend one conference per academic year.

How to sign up for a conference

• Dr. LaBella must pre-approve any conference travel in which you will present lab research or utilize lab funds
• Travel authorizations must be set up as soon as possible through our financial administrators.
• When possible, all purchases must be made on the department purchasing card through a financial administrator.

Expectations for conference attendance

• You will adhere to the University, lab, and conference codes of conduct. Failure to do so may result in removal from the lab.
• You will prepare for the conference in a timely manner. If you consistently fail to meet preparation deadlines and/or this results in missing conference deadlines, you may lose support to attend future conferences.
• You will attend at least 80% of the conference presentations. Social and networking events are optional but highly encouraged.
• Attendance at plenary talks takes priority over other events or talks.
• You will report back on what you learned at the conference in a follow-up meeting

LaskowskiLab_2026:

• Conferences – assuming the lab has money, each grad student and postdoc will be funded to attend at least one academic conference per year. If an undergrad has taken a large role in a project and would like to attend, then this is also a possibility. Conferences are fun, but don’t forget that they are professional too. You are expected to use your time wisely at the conference (see relevant talks, meet new people, etc). You’ll be expected to give a summary of the cool things you learned/saw at a conference after you return

LowePowerLab_2026:

I will encourage you to attend scientific/professional meetings. I will not be able to cover all requests but you can generally expect to attend at least one major domestic conference per year, when you have material to present. Securing outside funding (e.g. a fellowship or travel award) will likely enable you to attend additional meetings, especially international meetings. I will work together with you to strengthen your presentation skills.

MaLab_2026:

The lab pays for PhD students and postdocs to attend up to two conferences a year if they present at those conferences. For research assistants and undergraduates, conference attendance is decided on a case-by-case basis.

McDermottLab_2026:

I will always pay for the first author on a conference presentation to attend the meeting. If you are not presenting as a first author but feel that attending a conference is important, ask me and I will fund it if I can.

MemoLab_2026:

The lab will typically pay for full-time lab members to present their work at major conferences (e.g., SFN, CNS, CEMS), as long as there is funding to do so. In general, the work should be “new” in that it has not been presented previously, and it should be appropriate for the conference. This will usually result in 1-2 conferences per year. When I set our grant budgets, I estimate $1500 per trip, so your reimbursable costs should be around that amount or less, and you should plan your travel accordingly. Meal costs will be reimbursed for people who are presenting work from the lab. The lab will also pay for new grad students and postdocs to attend one conference in their first year in the lab (i.e., without presenting). If you wish to attend any other conference outside of these guidelines, under some circumstances I may be willing to have the lab reimburse you for the registration fee. If travel expenses are being paid off of a grant, additional restrictions may apply (talk to me). All of these guidelines, of course, depend on the availability of funds. Lab members are required to apply for other sources of funding available to them (e.g., departmental or university travel awards).

MoreauLab_2026:

I typically try to support your participation in at least one scientific conference per year where you will present your independent research, although you should seek funding too.

NicholGroup_2026:

If you have something to present at a conference, like a talk or poster, I will do my best to pay for your travel. Exceptions to this policy include program reviews, in which all students involved in the project are generally expected to attend. Conferences are a valuable opportunity to network, stay up to date, and present your work. As such, they are a key part of your professional development. It costs about $1,000-$2,000 to send someone to a conference. All students and postdocs should share lodging with someone else. Possible exceptions to this rule can be made, but only if you consult with me first.

OlanrewajuLab_2026:

Prior to presenting a poster or talk, you should use the group meetings prior to the event to show your poster draft and/or walk through your presentation slides. When you present your work, it is expected that you will take notes on the questions asked, and identify who is asking the question (name, title) and where they are located (University/Industry, email address).  If someone is asking questions, it shows that they have an appreciation for the work—they are likely someone who should be contacted in the future!  You will be expected to include the questions asked and the people who asked questions in your post-conference debrief. In your group meeting presentation following a conference/research travel, you will be expected to present a debrief.  This must include a thorough discussion of at least 3, preferably 5 talks and/or posters you attended.  You are encouraged to ask for copies of the talk, papers (if published), or take photos (if allowed/with author permission) to share in your debrief.

PeelleLab_2026:

Anyone submitting an abstract for a conference, symposium, etc. should clear this with me first, and circulate to all authors at least one week before the submission deadline.

Talks

Anyone giving a talk to a non-lab audience is required to give a practice talk to the lab at least one week before the real talk. If this is your first public talk on a lab project, plan on at least two practice talks (starting at least 2 weeks before the real talk). Practice talks should be mostly finished (final slides, practiced, and the right length) so that our comments will be as helpful as possible. Schedule one or more meetings with me ahead of time to plan or go over your slides, especially if you haven’t given many talks before.

Posters

Anyone presenting a poster should circulate an initial version to all authors at least one week before the printing deadline. Use the lab Adobe Illustrator template so that our posters have a consistent look to them. If this is your first time using Illustrator, make sure to leave plenty of extra time so you can learn how to use the software.

PoldrackLab_2026:

The laboratory will generally fund the attendance of members to at least one conference per year, pending funding availability.

• While funding is usually tied to presenting at the meeting, in some cases the lab will fund members to attend who are not presenting, depending on the meeting location and funding availability.
• We regularly fund the attendance of research assistants to conferences as we think this is an essential aspect of their training experience.
• Conference abstract submissions must be completed at least one week before the final deadline, to allow coauthors sufficient time to review the submission.
• Lab members are encouraged to find satellite opportunities (such as hackathons or workshops) to maximize the benefit of their conference travel.

RichardsonLab_2026:

As a student you should strive to attend at least one conference every other year, while postdocs should aim to attend one conference per year. But, conferences are not boondoggles2 and I expect you to present your work, either in an oral or poster presentation, if you are going to attend. Keep in mind that the cost for a “big” conference like AGU or ESA is pretty high (up to $3000 per attendee, once meals and lodging, registration, abstract submission, and airfare are taken into account) but there are also much lower-cost venues like NAU’s Biennial Conference which can be just as rewarding and productive. I will work with you to identify funding to support registration and travel expenses, but this does not mean that funding will always be available.

RossIbarraLab_2026:

Everyone is encouraged to attend at least one conference a year. Members of the lab regularly attend such meetings as the maize meeting, SMBE, Evolution, and ESA. The department and university offer travel funding for graduate students and postdocs, and you should apply for external sources of funding to help cover travel expenses. Whenever possible, I will help fund attendance at one conference per year for each member of the lab on the condition that you are presenting a poster or talk at the meeting. Please provide ample time before the deadline for reviewing abstracts and posters or practicing talks.

SantiagoTiradoLab_2026:

For regional conferences (such as MMPC or MNID), presenting your work is not required but recommended for attendance. We usually go to these conferences as the whole group.

For national and/or international conferences (such as ASM Microbe or GRCs), we only go if your work is accepted. However, it is important to look for financial aid (internally from ND, the organizers, professional societies, etc.) to at least supplement the expenses. Obtaining these will also look great on your CV!

Schloss_2026:

I will support you to attend one conference per year assuming you have a poster to present

SwansonGroup_2026:

Typically, if you are paper author I’ll send you to the conference if it’s in the US. If you are presenting the paper (usually the first author), you will go regardless of where it is. Subject to the availability of funding and university policy, I’ll cover your flight, your hotel during the conference, conference registration, ground transportation, and food. In making your travel arrangements I expect you to book travel frugally and as if you are spending your own money (The one exception to this is that you should stay in the conference hotel, even though it’s usually expensive). For instance, you should

• Make travel arrangements well in advance.
• Share a hotel room with another student of the same gender, when possible.
• Share cabs, etc. when possible.
• Plan to spend less than $900 total for a domestic conference. If it is going to cost more than this, let me know.

SweedlerLab_2026:

I want you to attend appropriate scientific meetings to learn from others, to present your work, etc. In fact, I use a large part of flexible group funds to fund graduate student attendance at such meetings. However, the meeting must fit the goals of our funding sources; assuming we have adequate funding, I will allow one meeting per year, although this may increase as you become more senior. The second meeting may also be to a funding agency meeting or have some other special tie to the group. To help with the financial aspects of meetings, I hope you look for financial support for travel. I always appreciate it when a group member tells me about a travel award (or another award) they discovered. In some cases, such as graduate student travel grants, the group can have only one nominee (per program), and so you may have to wait a semester or two for your turn.

VuraWeisLab_2026:

Students should consult with Josh before applying to a conference. ❖ We aim to have students attend at least one conference by the end of their 3rd year, subject to having enough solid results to present. ❖ All conference funding will be provided. Students should apply for external conference funding (ex. WCC or department awards).