Fellowships

The ISB International Society for Biocuration is a non-profit organization for biocurators, developers, and researchers with an interest in biocuration. The society promotes the field of biocuration and provides a forum for information exchange through meetings and workshops.

ISB is offering two in-person travel fellowships (CHF 2,500 each) to support current ISB members aiming to attend the [BC]² Basel Computational Biology Conference. Applications are particularly encouraged from students, early-career curators, and curators from low-income countries or those affected by natural disasters.

Fellowship details

Each travel fellowship will be issued as 2’500 CHF one-time payment to cover travel expenses (e.g. flight and ground transportation) to [BC]².

• ISB Travel Fellows will receive a free registration for the conference.

• ISB Travel Fellows will receive the funds after the decision has been taken; fellows will be responsible for organizing their own travel arrangements.

• Once notified, ISB Travel Fellows must register for the conference independently.

Eligibility and application process

Each applicant for a travel fellowship must meet the following criteria:

• Be an active ISB member (details on becoming an ISB member can be found here). 

• Submit a completed application using the official application form, including a statement (max. 500 words) explaining why they are requesting travel funds and how attending the [BC]² conference will benefit their career. 

• Commit to presenting a poster or giving a talk at the conference.

• Submit their application by 30 April 2025

• After the meeting awardees will supply a picture and short summary of how attending the meeting benefitted them for use by the ISB 

• Priority will be given to students and early-careers, as well as to applicants from low to middle-income countries or countries suffering from natural and humanitarian disasters. Previous recipients can apply again; however, they will be given a lower priority.

Notification

The award notification will be sent via email in mid-May and announced on the ISB and [BC]² website after acceptance of the award.

Important dates

• 10 March 2025 – Fellowship call opens
• 30 April 2025 – Fellowship call closes

• 15 May 2025 – Acceptance notification

Apply here

Not only as a travel fellowship, this year the SNSF awarded an inclusivity travel fellowship. This fellowship is designed to assist individual in attending events which they would not otherwise be able to be present at for reasons beyond simple lack of funding for travel and accommodation.

Fellowship details

• Each travel fellowship will be issued as a one-time payment to cover travel expenses (e.g. flight and accommodation) to [BC]². The costs depend of the region, see the table below.
• Travel fellows will receive the funds after the decision has been taken; fellows will be responsible for organizing their own travel arrangements, BUT accommodation is booked by SIB.
• The travel grant does NOT include the registration fee. Registration must be paid by the fellow. 
• Once notified, travel fellows must register for the conference independently.

Eligibility and application process

Each applicant for a travel fellowship must meet the following criteria:

• Submit a completed application using the official application form, including a statement (max. 500 words) explaining why you are requesting travel funds and how attending the [BC]² conference will benefit your career. 

• Submit also the following documents: CV and a proof of submitting a talk or a poster.

• Commit to presenting a poster or giving a talk at the conference.

• Submit your application by 29 May 2025

• After the meeting, you will supply a picture and short summary of how attending the meeting benefitted you, for use by SIB

• Priority will be given to students and early-careers, as well as to applicants from low to middle-income countries or countries suffering from natural and humanitarian disasters. 

Eligible costs

Travel costs

All the travel costs must be paid by the fellow. The fellow must send within 30 days after the [BC]² conference an excel sheet, that will be furnished by SIB. All invoices should be sent in one pdf. 

• Travel costs for a return trip to Switzerland for each fellow can be covered (entirely or in part) by the grant. This includes train travel (in any class), flights (in Economy class), transfers to and from the airports or train stations, transportation in Switzerland, and visa costs, up to a certain amount as defined by region (see the travel costs table below).

Accommodation costs

• Accommodation costs for the fellow based on a flat rate of up to CHF 200 per overnight stay. SIB is responsible for booking the hotel. The number of overnight stays should not be more than three overnight stays.

Notification

The award notification will be sent via email in mid-June.

Important dates

• 10 March 2025 – Fellowship call opens
• 29 May 2025 – Fellowship call closes

• 15 June 2025 – Acceptance notification

In 2019, LS² Life Sciences Switzerland and SIB created the LS² Intersection Bioinformatics. Members of this newly formed intersection benefit from reduced registration fees to [BC]².

The Swiss Academy of Sciences (SCNAT) has granted nine registration fellowships for students (BSc, MSc or PhD), who wish to participate in [BC]² (only applicable to on-site participation). Interested students can submit their motivation letter, which will be assessed by the Board of the LS² Bioinformatics Intersection.

Requirements and procedures

Applicants need to satisfy the following criteria:

• The applicant must be enrolled in an official Bachelor, Master or PhD programme (a copy of a valid student ID or certificate of the current inscription needs to be provided with the application).
• The field of study must be related to one of the sessions of the [BC]² conference.
• The applicant must be an active member of LS² by the time of the application (see the membership details).
• The applicant must submit a motivation letter to explain why she/he would like to attend the [BC]² conference and how the conference will benefit her/his career.
• Application deadline: 29 May 2025

Notification

The acceptance notification for the registration fellowship will be sent via email mi to end-June 2025 and is also announced on the LS² and [BC]² website after acceptance of the fellowship.

Please note:

• If you are granted a registration fellowship, but already registered to [BC]², the registration fee will be reimbursed; if not you will receive a registration code to set your registration fees to 0 CHF.
• Travel and hotel need to be organized by the applicant. They are not covered by the fellowship.
• All LS² members can be intersection members (read below information about the LS² Intersection Bioinformatics)

Important dates

• 10 March 2025 – Fellowship call opens
• 29 May 2025 – Fellowship call closes
• Mid-June 2025 – Acceptance notification

Apply here