Andreas Förster Travel Grant

Paths to Scientific Excellence

On the way to scientific excellence, each step brings many challenges. These might be striving for continuous learning, gaining access to infrastructure, finding collaborators, or more complex matters such as achieving a work-life balance. 

How can one help? So far, our support of the community has included the DECTRIS Award for excellent scientific achievements, equipment donations, teaching and sponsoring of schools, and direct support of students. However, for some scientists, the challenges they encounter on their path to excellence are more severe.

Andreas Förster Travel Grant

The Andreas Förster Travel Grant focuses on the challenges faced by scientists in less-privileged and developing regions of the world. It targets students and researchers up to the postdoc level from countries which are below the 50 leading countries in GDP*. 

A grant of up to 1,500 CHF will be awarded twice per year to two different applicants who aim to attend a conference, workshop, or school of their choice. One of Andreas’ many passions was the training and education of the next generation of crystallographers, and this is why the grant supports attendance at conferences and schools.

*Please note that this means you must currently be studying or researching in that country

Call for Applications in 2023

With the launch of the Andreas Förster Travel Grant, we encourage students and researchers up to the postdoc level to apply for the two grants in 2023. All applicants must:

• Come from a country whose GDP is below the top 50 in the world
• Aim to attend a conference, school, or workshop of their choice

As an exception, this year we are dedicating one of the grants to attending the SAPDC Powder Diffraction School 2023 in Namibia. The other grant is open for attending an event of the applicant's choice.

The deadline to apply for the grant dedicated to the SAPDC is 15.02.2023.
All applicants will be informed of the status of their application by 28.02.2023.

The deadline to apply for any other event is 31.03.2023.
All applicants will be informed of the status of their application by 15.04.2023.

Before applying for the grant, please be aware that there might be a visa, or other administrative regulations that must be met, for the event of your choice.