How to apply
Are you eligible?
Any conservation researcher at an early stage in their career is welcome to apply to attend the Student Conference on Conservation Science. Most delegates are Masters or PhD students, or are working at a similar level in a conservation organisation. The majority of delegates are biologists, but we also strongly encourage applications from social and environmental scientists. While we always have a strong core of UK delegates, the conference is extremely international, with around 40 countries represented each year.
How to apply
You need to complete an online application form, telling us why you want to attend, and giving details of your presentation, if you wish to give one (though this is not compulsory). There are no strict rules about the kind of talks or posters that the organising committee selects for the conference, but they should always be about research you did yourself, wholly or in part. You may include reviews of studies by other people, but this must be made clear in your application. For your presentation to stand the best chance of being chosen, give special attention on your application form to the four sections about the main questions addressed by your work, its methods, the most important findings and their relevance to conservation.
If you are from a developing or eastern European country, the application form is also where you can apply for a bursary to help with your travel costs, or for a place on our internship scheme.
Remember that room at the conference, talk and poster spaces, and bursary and internship places are all limited, so what you tell us on your application is very important. If you have not completed a similar form before, do ask your supervisor for help.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT USING THE ONLINE APPLICATION SYSTEM
You must register the first time you use the online application system. You can then log in with your email and password to access your application. It is important to log out at the end of each session. If you experience any problems, we advise you refresh the page by opening a new browser window.
To enable you to practice/plan your application offline, you can download an MS Word version of the application form. You can then cut and paste from the word document into the online application form. Always remember to go to the end of the application form and press the 'submit' button to save your work; that way you can update it as often as you like before the deadline.
If you intend to also make an application for an internship, please take the time to read the internship guidelines before beginning your application.
The deadline for applications is 15 November.
Our response
All conference, talk, poster, bursary and internship places are selected by the organising committee. You should be informed whether your application has been accepted or not in December. Do not be too disappointed if you are unsuccessful this time: competition is intense, and usually it is only possible to accept about a quarter of the talks that are offered, and to fund about one in ten of the bursary applicants. Sometimes talks are placed on a reserve list, which means that they are not accepted immediately but they may be included later if circumstances change. Often, you will be encouraged to present your findings as a poster if it turns out not to be possible to allocate you a timeslot for a talk.
