ESACT Grants

What can an ESACT Grant support?

ESACT Grants are intended to support young scientists to participate in scientific conferences to present research and results related to animal cell technology. Grants can also be given to support attendance at courses or short research based internships.

A grant provides a contribution towards expenses of travel, registration or accommodation at fixed rates (EUR 500.- grant for events in Europe, EUR 1000.- grant for overseas events).

  • Applicants must be ESACT members. The advantages of membership can be found here →.
  • Applicants must be enrolled in a Ph.D. program or employed in an early stage PostDoc position (within the first two years after graduation). Well-argued and documented exceptions may apply, such as maternity leave – please contact us directly to provide corresponding documents in such a case.
  • The applicant may not be an employee of a company.
  • Each individual can receive a grant only twice.
  • For applicants applying for the same conference and from the same working group, the first come, first served principle will be used.
  • Profit-oriented events are excluded from support.
  • If the application is for a conference attendance, then applicants must present a poster or an oral presentation.
  • The topic of the presentation must bear relevance to the field of animal cell technology and the goals of ESACT as specified in our webpage. Whether the conference or event attended is dedicated to this field or a broader scientific area is not a criterion.
  • Participation in the event or activity must have a clear benefit to the career development of the applicant.
  • Applications must be submitted at latest 3 months before the conference.
  • Grant recipients must display the ESACT Grant logo on their poster or on the acknowledgment slide of their presentation. A copy of the poster must be provided as a pdf for the ESACT Archive.

Your application must be made in the structured form below, failure to complete any applicable Section will disqualify your application. All applications should be made at latest 3 months before the conference you plan to attend. Turnover time for application review may take up to 6 weeks. The grant is granted pending acceptance of the abstract.

To receive reimbursement, the applicants needs to provide the following documents:

  • Confirmation of acceptance of the abstract for presentation (pdf of the conference program or of the email of acceptance)
  • A pdf of the poster or the slides presented
  • Documentation of expenses exceeding the grant amount (these can be for registration, travel or accommodation)
  • Account information for the transfer
  • Confirmation of course attendance
  • Confirmation of visit to host laboratory

click and apply for an ESACT Grant →

Grant Winners 2024

In the year 2024 we have already awarded grants. Here are some of them.

Marie Dorn

EngD Biochemical Engineering student | University College London

“I am grateful for the support of the ESACT Travel Award, which enabled me to attend the ECI Integrated Continuous Biomanufacturing Conference VI in Leesburg, Virginia, in 2024. This was my second time at the conference, and I had the opportunity to present the progress of my research. The engaging discussions with the scientific community provided me with fresh inspiration and valuable insights. In addition to sharing my own work, I attended sessions and workshops covering a wide range of topics, which expanded my knowledge and allowed me to network with experts from both industry and academia.”

Lennart Jacobtorweihe

PhD Student | Bioprocess Engineering group
Max Planck Institute for Dynamics of Complex Technical Systems 

“Thanks to the ESACT grant, I was able to present my research at the ECI Vaccine Technology Conference in Los Cabos. The experience was outstanding with meaningful discussions and excellent networking, resulting in new collaborations that have enriched my project. Especially for me, as an early-career scientist, ESACT helped me to develop both scientifically and personally through this conference.”

Alice Johnson

PhD Student – College of Engineering and Physical Sciences | Aston University

“The International Scientific Conference on Cultured Meat is a major event for professionals in the cultivated meat industry. Thanks to the ESACT travel grant, I have the opportunity to present and discuss my research findings with leading scientists from both academia and industry. I am deeply grateful to ESACT for this chance to advance my work and further my career.”

Tilia Zinnecker

Doctoral Researcher at Max Planck Institute for Dynamics of Complex Technical Systems

“Receiving the ESACT grant allowed my participation in the ECI Vaccine Technology Conference in Los Cabos, Mexico, in 2024, serving as an ideal knowledge hub for the most recent trends and breakthroughs in vaccine development and manufacturing. This opportunity provided an outstanding platform to present my latest research, actively engage in discussions, attend sessions, and network with experts from both academia and industry.”

Grant Winners 2023

In the year 2023 we have already awarded grants. Here are two of them.

Nikolaus Virgolini

University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna

“Thanks to the support of the ESACT travel grant I was able to share our latest research at the 30th congress of the European Society of Cell and Gene Therapy (ESGCT) in Brussels. I am truly grateful for this excellent networking opportunity and the possibility to discuss with experts from both academia and industry.”

Sergio Alonso

PhD student at University of Oviedo

“The ESACT travel grant has allowed me to attend ARVO, the most important ophthalmology and vision science congress in the world, where I have shared some of the results obtained during my PhD with my scientific colleagues. The motivation always increases after exchanging ideas in an international congress of this level, that is why I can’t thank ESACT enough for this opportunity.”

Grant Winners 2021

In the year 2021 we have already awarded grants. Here is one of them.

Gwendal Gränicher

DiNAQOR AG

“The generous ESACT grant covers allows me to give a talk at the ECI Advancing Manufacture of cell and gene therapies VII conference. Being at an in-person conference allows me to have valuable scientific exchange and exceptional networking opportunities”

Grant Winners 2020

In the year 2020 we have already awarded grants. Here is one of them.

Manuel Chacón

Unidad de Medicina Regenerative de la Superficie Ocular, Oviedo, Spain

“I’m so grateful to be awarded the ESACT Travel Grant, which will allow me to attend the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology Annual Meeting coming May in Baltimore. As I am in my first year of my PhD, I’m very excited to attend this conference in order to receive feedback from experts in my field and meet new colleagues for future steps of my career.”

Grant Winners 2019

In the year 2019 we have already awarded six grants. Here are some of them.

Elisabeth Gludovacz

University of Natural Resouces and Life Sciences, Vienna

“I am very grateful for having been awarded an ESACT travel grant that enabled me to give a talk at the 14th Conference on Protein Expression in Animal Cells (14th PEACe, September 22-26, 2019, Newport, Rhode Island, USA). It gave me the opportunity to share and discuss the results of my research with scientists from both academia and industry and to collect new ideas for my future work.”

Ana Luísa Cartaxo

iBET, Instituto de Biologia Experimental e Tecnológica/ ITQB, Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica António Xavier, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Portugal

“Winning this grant gave me the opportunity to present and share part of my PhD work with experts in the area of Biomaterials. On top of that, winning the best poster presentation award was one of the best moments of my early stage scientific career.”

Sven Mathias

University of Applied Sciences Biberach, Germany

“Attending the “GRC on Biotherapeutics and Vaccines Development” allowed me to discuss my recent achievements with a highly diverse and valuable scientific community. Further it enabled to gather insights into the latest developments and scientific approaches in the field of producing biotherapeutics. It was a pleasure to meet the critical as well as inspiring auditorium which will have had a substantial influence on my entire scientific career. Thanks for giving me the opportunity!”

Grant Winners 2018

In the year 2018 we have given grants to a total of 13 applicants. Here are some of them.

Moritz Wolf

ETH Zuerich, Switzerland

“The ESACT Grand allowed me to attend the Cell Culture Engineering Conference XVI in Tampa (FL), which allowed me to share my most recent research with experts from industry and academia. In addition, the conference provided diverse insights into the hot topics of the cell culture engineering and was an excellecent network opportunity.”

Robson Amaral

University of Sao Paolo, Brazil

“Receiving the ESACT Grant means a lot to me! Taking part in the 3D Cell Culture Congress 2018 in Germany and talking to a lot of other researchers in this field was an inspiring and highly motivating experience for me.”

Nadja Raab

University of Applied Sciences Biberach, Germany

“Receiving the ESACT Grant allowed me to participate in the ECI cell culture engineering conference 2018, which provided diverse insights into current subjects of cell line engineering, highly qualified scientific exchange as well as new approaches and ideas for my PhD work”

Nicolas Marx

Department of Biotechnology,
University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna, Austria

“With the help of the ESACT Grant I was able to attend the Cell Culture Engineering Conference XVI in Tampa (FL) where I could share my recent research with a high-profile scientific community both from academia and industry. The conference also provided excellent networking opportunities and allowed great discussions with leaders in the field.”

Hai-Yuan Goh

Advanced Centre for Biochemical Engineering,
Department of Biochemical Engineering,
University College London, United Kingdom

“The ESACT grant has been a great help in supporting my travel to the 255th ACS National Meeting (Division of Biochemical Technology-BIOT) in New Orleans on “Rapid process monitoring & control in mammalian cell culture using off-gas mass spectrometry analysis”. It has been an eye-opening and intense experience of sharing knowledge and having interactions with people across various disciplines, in academia and industry alike. It is through conferences like this that enables cross fertilisation of ideas & ESACT has provided me with the opportunity to do so!“

Grant Winners 2017

In the year 2017 we have given grants to a total of 8 applicants. Here are some of them.

Cristiana Lungu

Institute of Cell Biology and Immunology,
University of Stuttgart, Germany

“I am very grateful to the ESACT Society for providing me with travel support to attend the Cytoskeleton 2017 meeting. Taking part in this conference strongly supported the transition I have undertaken in the topic of my research from my PhD to PostDoc. The extensive knowledge I have accumulated during this short time enabled me to better plan my direction of research and build novel hypotheses. Without the ESACT support this process would have been more tedious.”

Valerie Schmieder

Marie Sklodowska-Curie Early Stage Researcher of the “eCHO Systems” Innovative Training Network
http://www.echo-systems.eu/

“By receiving the ESACT grant, I got the possibility to share my results at the 20th Biochemical and Molecular Engineering Conference in the US. Moreover, I gained innovative ideas for my future work and I was able to network with the eminent scientific community present at this inspiring conference.”

Grant Winners 2016

In the year 2016 we had 11 winners of a grant. Here are some of them.

Alexander Nikolay

Upstream Processing,
Max Planck Institute for Dynamics of Complex Technical Systems, Magdeburg, Germany

 

“The ESACT Grant allowed me to present results on a vaccine conference. Fruitful discussions with industry led to new aspects of my PhD project and a better calibration of my work to answer current and future problems in vaccine production.”

Ramón Román

Fermentation Pilot Plant (PPF),
Chemical Engineering Department of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Barcelona, Spain

 

“Thanks to the ESACT Grant, I could present a poster about some of my PhD work at the ECB2016 Congress (Krakow).”

Application

To apply for an ESACT Grant please fill in the contact form below. Applications will be reviewed by the XC (results to be expected not earlier than 30 days after deadline). Decisions are made based on the quality of the information submitted below (specifically based on the statement of motivation and your abstract), so please make sure that you provide all relevant information.
Only the best candidates will receive funding!

Please make sure your supervisor is informed about your application. If approved, the transfer of the awarded sum will be initiated after receipt of an expense statement by the treasurer.

Application deadlines are January 1st, May 1st and September 1st each year.