• Applicants must submit a detailed budget, including the costs for conference attendance and other existing sources of funding.
• Eligible expenses include:
  1. Discount economy round-trip airfare. For any higher-level airfare, the applicant will be responsible for the difference between the lowest airfare and the higher level.
  2. Transport to and from the airport.
  3. Hotel expenses are limited to the headquarters hotel rate during the official meeting dates. Stays extending beyond these dates are not eligible.
  4. Registration fees for the conference.
  5. A total per diem of up to $75/day (Within Canada) or $100/day (Outside Canada), excluding alcoholic beverages (receipts required)
• The maximal amount of each SSP Travel Award is $2,000 CAD, disbursed directly to your student account (after the conference).
• Budgets must be balanced and cannot run a profit or a deficit (i.e. expenses and revenue must be equal)
• The budget may be tentative, so please submit quotations or estimates if final amounts are unavailable.

At the time of application, applicants must:

• Be a graduate student enrolled in the Surgical and Interventional Sciences (SIS) Doctoral or Master's (thesis) program; OR
• Be a surgical resident enrolled in McGill’s Surgical Scientist Program;
• Be within the following timeframes from their initial graduate program registration:

MSc students: Two years
PhD students: Five years

• Have submitted an abstract (as first author, or co-first author) to an academic conference.

Who is NOT Eligible for this Award:

Trainees enrolled in the SIS Master's non-thesis (coursework, taught) program.

• An applicant may receive up to a maximum of one SSP Travel Award per calendar year (January 1^st to December 31^st).
• Awardees must disclose any additional funding received to attend the conference.

• If another award is secured, the SSP Travel Award will be prorated to the amount necessary to cover the total conference costs. The maximal amount covered by the SSP is $2000.
• If the total funding from other awards is sufficient to cover the total conference costs, the SSP Travel Award must be declined.
• If the number of eligible applications exceeds available funding, awards may be capped at $1,000 CAD per recipient (maximum of eight awards). Priority will be given to applicants who have not previously received an SSP Travel Award, who are nearing completion of their graduate program (e.g., MSc students in their final year and PhD students in advanced stages of training), and who are presenting at international conferences.
• Support for duplicate presentations is not available.

DOWNLOAD the Application Form

Supporting Documents to submit with your application

• One-page Letter of intent explaining the motivations for attending the conference.
• If applicable, include information about other travel awards received to attend the conference.
• If applicable, include information about lack of eligibility for other travel awards.
• Budget (DOWNLOAD SSP Travel Awards Program Budget template)
• Abstract submitted to the conference.
• Confirmation of abstract acceptance or proof of submission (i.e., copy of confirmation email or website screenshot).

How to Apply:

Please submit your application documents in the specified order as a single PDF document** to surgicalscientist.med [at] mcgill.ca (subject: SSP%20TRAVEL%20Award) before the application deadline.

** Use PDF Merge or other free online applications.

To obtain your award, please send the following documents to surgicalscientist.med [at] mcgill.ca () within 14 days of the travel completion:

• Updated budget (replacing any cost estimates with actual costs, including additional sources of funding)
• Proof of abstract acceptance (if not already provided)
• Original receipts for all expenses.
• Proof of payment of all expenses (e.g., credit card statement)
• Signed Declaration of No Personal Profit – confirming that you are not receiving a duplicate disbursement of funds from other sources for the same expenses and that this funding does not result in personal financial gain.

**As part of the award process, the trainee may need to provide their social insurance number and complete a direct deposit form.

Payments will be made via direct deposit to your student account.