Travel Grants

The American Arachnological Society is pleased to provide annual student travel grants for students interested in attending the American Arachnological Society Conference. Awards of $250-$800 will be considered for high school, undergraduate, or graduate students who will be presenting authors on a poster or oral presentation at the meeting but who have limited (or no) funding to support travel to the meeting.

Submission Guidelines: All applicants must be members of AAS. Any prospective applicant who cannot afford the student membership fee should contact the AAS membership secretary (membership@americanarachnology.org), as soon as possible so that a membership sponsor can be arranged as appropriate.

Student travel grant funding priority will be given to individuals with a demonstrated financial need that cannot be met by other sources (e.g., advisor, department, or university) and based on the following criteria for ranking applications: quality of abstract, evidence of financial need, articulation of personal benefits of attending the conference, and strength of support letter. Applicants from developing nations will be given special consideration.

Inform your advisor or mentor to send the required letter of support. A letter of support from the students’ advisor or mentor (this person does not need to be a member of the Society). The letter should also describe the student’s financial need and whether additional funding will be available either from the applicant’s advisor or from other sources. The letter should must be sent to the Chair of the travel grant committee (Dr. Marc Milne: milnem@~@uindy.edu) and received by the application deadline. If the applicant does not have an advisor, please notify the travel grant committee Chair via email.

Important membership information: We are in the process of migrating AAS membership systems, and new memberships are temporarily unavailable. You are welcome to apply for a travel grant now. We will notify applicants as soon as membership reopens so you can complete membership if needed. To receive an award, applicants must be active AAS members when awardees are selected.

More details and an application form will be posted shortly.

The application form and letter of support must be received
NO LATER THAN by midnight of Friday, May 1, 2026.

Award announcements will be made two weeks before the abstract deadline, which will allow students time to decide if they will accept the award funding.

Service note: Please be aware that all students who receive AAS travel awards are expected to put in a small number of hours (about 2 to 3 hours) in service to the society or to the meeting host(s). Be prepared to be called upon to help with society related tasks as needed.

Please note that the AAS cannot (by law) provide travel funds for individuals who reside in US embargoed countries.