Applicant Guidelines

Honorary membership
- Present Honorary members
- Previous Honorary Members
The Challenger Medal
- Previous Award winners
Meeting prizes
- Previous Meeting Prize winners
Stepping Stones Bursary
- Stepping Stones Reports
- Stepping Stones Report - September 2019
- Stepping Stones Report Aug 2016
Travel awards
- Travel Award Reports
- Applicant Guidelines
Fellowships
- Challenger Fellows
- Challenger Fellowships
- Challenger Woodward Fellowship

Applicant Guidelines

Detailed guidelines for Travel Award applicants

1) Eligibility

a. Applicants must be paying members of the Challenger Society.

b. Masters Degree students in their 4th year of study may apply for only 1 student Travel Award during your period of study.

c. MSc students may apply for only 1 student Travel Award during your period of study.

d. PhD students can apply for a maximum of 2 Travel Awards during your period of study.

2) Completing the application form

a. Applications for Travel Awards should be completed using the form (MS Word Document) provided.

b. These take the form of a statement of the reasons for travel, including its scientific value, and if applying for funds to attend a conference, that a paper or poster has been accepted (incl. the abstract), and the total budget for the travel explaining how the majority of the costs will be found.

c. A statement of support from one of the student's supervisors must be included. This statement should include a motivation why the student should receive the travel award and how they would benefit from partaking in the activity with regards to their Masters/PhD and beyond. It should also outline the student’s funding situation.

3) Reports

a. Successful recipients of Travel Awards are required to provide a brief report to be published in Challenger Wave and on the website following attendance at the meeting or completion of fieldwork.

b. This report should consist of: (1) blog-type summary report (preferably in MS Word); (2) picture attachment; (3) profile of award holder; (4) 140-character Twitter feed.

c. The report must be submitted within 3 months of attendance at the meeting or completion of fieldwork. If you are unable to attend the meeting or complete the fieldwork, please notify Dr Sophie-Berenice Wilmes (s.wilmes@bangor.ac.uk) depending on the circumstances, the award can be delayed or re-assigned.

4) Payments

a. Please apply in a timely manner before funding is required.

b. Payments will only be made once the report has been received.

c. Payments will be made by cheque (either direct to the student or to the department).

5) Submission Process

a. Applications can be submitted by email using the link to the application form at the bottom of this page.

b. Applications deadlines are January 15th, April 15th, July 15th, and October 15th of each year.

c. Applications can be submitted at any time but will be reviewed shortly after the above mentioned deadlines.

d. Electronic submissions should be made to Dr Sophie-Berenice Wilmes (s.wilmes@bangor.ac.uk).

6) Decision Process

a. The travel award applications are reviewed by the Council against a number of criteria (including the scientific merit, personal statement, and budget).

b. Each deadline will have a total budget of around £2,500. Monies can be rolled over if not fully used in anyone period.

c. A decision will be made within 6 weeks of the deadline and applicants will be notified of the outcome at that time

Latest News

Marine Data Management, Governance and the MEDIN toolset

The Marine Environmental Data and Information Network (MEDIN) and OceanWise are delighted to invite you to attend our popular free online training workshop: ‘Marine Data Management, Governance and the MEDIN toolset’ on the 19th – 23rd of May 2025.

Workshop on the contribution of UK Arctic Ocean science to the International Polar Year 32/33

12:00 11th June – 16:00 12th June 2025: NOC Southampton (In-person with online option): Registration deadline 16th May

REGISTER HERE

Pre-meeting questionnaire (open to all)

The purpose of this workshop is for the UK Ocean Science community to discuss and then draft a prospectus document outlining the priority Arctic research questions the community would like to address during the run up to, throughout and beyond the International Polar Year 32/33. Additionally, to identify what unique strengths and technologies the UK has to help fill these knowledge gaps.

The second day of the workshop will be dedicated to writing groups, one for each of the priority research questions identified - from both the pre-meeting questionnaire (HERE) and day one discussion. By the end of the meeting, each group will have produced draft text and sourced supporting figures for the prospectus.

Post meeting, the draft will be opened for comments and suggestions from everyone, regardless of whether they were able to attend the workshop or not. It will then be shared with UK funders (UKRI, FCDO, DSIT, ARIA) and potential international programmes with whom we would like to collaborate (e.g. Arctic 2050, Norway). It will form a basis from which wider integration with terrestrial, atmospheric and cryosphere communities can be built, e.g. at the UK Arctic Science Meeting in September in Northumbria.

To ensure balanced community and ECR representation, and to ensure that the size of the writing groups is efficient and effective, if the number of registrations from individual institutes becomes overwhelming, we may contact individuals or teams and ask that each institute selects a smaller number of individuals to attend in-person. Please wait for confirmation of in-person attendance before finalising travel arrangements.

The workshop will be open to hybrid attendance and contributions on both days.

Challenger Society Council Position Vacancy

The Challenger Society for Marine Science (CSMS) are pleased to announce an exciting opportunity to support the next generation of ocean scientists and innovators. CSMS are looking for a new Council member to fill the Student Travel Awards and Stepping Stones Portfolio. The successful applicant will administer the travel and research grants available for Early Career Researchers.

The role involves:
-          Receiving applications for the two schemes and responding to applicant inquiries
-          Soliciting and compiling input from the rest of the Council for assessing the applications
-          Communicating with successful and unsuccessful applicants for the two schemes
-          Working with the Honorary Treasurer on allocating funds to successful applicants
-          Following up with award winners on their reporting requirements
-          Attending Council meetings four times a year (in person or online) and contributing to discussions and decision making for CSMS

The usual term for Council members is three years.

For more information about the CSMS Council, please follow this link: https://www.challenger-society.org.uk/The_Council

For more information about our Early Career Researcher grants and awards, please follow this link:
https://www.challenger-society.org.uk/Stepping_Stones
and
https://www.challenger-society.org.uk/Travel_awards

If you are interested in applying or have any questions regarding the role, please contact kathen@bas.ac.uk