CASS Travel Awards

CASS has awarded 875 Travel Awards valued at $2,942,668 since 2002.

Our Travel Award recipients share some of their reflections after attending overseas conferences, sharing their research, connecting with future collaborators, and participating in world-class research.

I was thrilled to receive positive feedback from a few new connections, where they were impressed by my research output… I also gained valuable insights from the more advanced research presented in the Tissue Engineering field, equipping me with new technologies and ideas that I can apply to my future work.
DR PINGPING HAN
Development Fellow, University of Queensland
Australasian Society for Biomaterials & Tissue Engineering (ASBTE), New Zealand, 2023
Besides outstanding science, the conference dinner and breaks were organised in a way that senior researchers were seated and actively introduced to young scientists, providing invaluable opportunities for networking and scientific discussion. Finally, several CELL Press editors were present at the conference and provided insights into their publishing and selection process.
Dr Isaak Quast
Senior Scientist, Monash University,
CELL Symposium, Viruses in Health & Disease, Spain, 2023
I was honoured to receive a Cannon Award Abstract of Distinction which was awarded to the top 10 abstracts on hypertension research. Receiving this award provided validation that my research is important and of much interest to others.
dr Quinh Nhu Dinh
Research Officer, La Trobe University American Physiology Summit, USA 2023
Attending this meeting has given an international boost to the profile of my work, and the research that is underway at the Florey through the Australian Epilepsy Project. It was also a great chance to spend time with several collaborators... Perhaps even more importantly, we were able to spend time together in a social setting (with a trip to the baseball on one evening!), building relationships that I hope will last throughout our careers.
DR David Vaughan
Senior Research Fellow, Florey Institute of Neuroscience & Mental Health
International Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, Canada, 2023
I had the chance of witnessing the newest EV based technologies that are being developed by multiple companies. In this very productive trip, I was also able to be a part of massive publication (MISEV2023) that will contain inputs on updated information/guidelines on EV research from all the leading researchers in the EV field.
DR Pamali Fonseka
NHMRC Emerging Leadership Fellow, La Trobe University
ISEV2023 Annual Meeting, USA, 2023
This conference provided a solid platform to establish international partnerships and collaborations to share methodologies with scientists from Taiwan and US, and access cutting-edge human stem cell harbouring dementia associated familial mutations from Corneil University.
Dr Alan Yu
Head of Neuroinflammation Laboratory, Florey Institute of Neuroscience & Mental Health
AD/PD 2023, Sweden, 2023
My presentation on the Mediterranean diet to a large, international audience has helped build conference experience in presenting and importantly has contributed to track record for future funding and grant applications.
Dr Paige van der Pligt
Lecturer Nutrition & Dietetics (Deputy Course Director), Deakin University
European Public Health Conference, Germany, 2022
As a result of my presentation, I have been invited to write a publication summarising the results of the Year in Review I completed for mechanics in osteoarthritis.
Dr Laura Diamond
Senior Lecturer, Griffith University
Osteoarthritis Research Society International (OARSI) 2023 World Congress on Osteoarthritis, USA, 2023
As a researcher within this somewhat small field in Australia, it was a unique opportunity to meet and discuss my research with such a large cohort of computational-based academics.
Dr Nicholas Smith
Research Fellow, La Trobe University
67th Biophysical Society (BPS) Annual Meeting USA, 2023
I appreciate the CASS foundation supporting me to attend these events as the benefits go beyond my simple attendance.
Dr Saffron Bryant
Research Fellow, RMIT
AMN10 conference, New Zealand, 2023
I have gained a lot of new knowledge from many great talks delivered by world leaders in autophagy field and highly motivated and talented researchers, many of whom I have developed connections with.
DR thanh nguyen
Research Fellow, Walter & Eliza Hall Institute of medical research
the 10th International Symposium on Autophagy, Japan, 2022
Participation in ... social activities that resulted in important networking activities, where I renewed existing ties with current collaborators and their research team and made several new connections.
DR Alexandra Debowski
Research Associate, The University of Western Australia,
International Intracellular Bacteria, Switzerland, 2022
These exposures highlighted multiple projects that I am leading in our laboratory and led to extremely useful discussions on ideas for continuing and expanding the work, as well as one new collaboration… This is one of the best international meetings I have attended...
DR Amy Winship
Research Fellow, Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute,
Mammalian Reproduction, Gordon Research Seminar, USA, 2022
The systems biology community in Australia is very small and doesn’t have a conference or society. It was therefore extremely insightful and informative about what the field has been up to in recent years and were it will be heading towards.
A/Prof Ulf Schmitz
Associate Professor Bioinformatics, James Cook University,
International Conference on Systems Biology, Germany, 2022
Attending the APICS conference with support from the CASS Foundation has already begun to yield significant benefits towards further elevating my national and international recognition as a leader in intensive care research.
Dr Yugeesh Lankadeva
Laboratory Head of Translational Cardiovascular and Renal Research, Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health,
Asia Pacific Intensive Care Symposium, Singapore, 2022
Received very positive feedback from the symposium moderator and attendance, with a great open discussion after symposium… Learnt from the recent advances on novel and next technologies…
Dr Mona Moradi Vajargah
Scientist (IPM), QLD Government/DAF,
XXVI International Congress of Entomology, Finland, 2022
I met several researchers I have worked with remotely but never met in person before and many others that were new to me entirely; some of these are likely to become collaborators.
Dr Danya Vears
Senior Research Fellow and Team Leader, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, European Society of Human Genetics, Austria, 2022
As a direct result [of attending the conference], I was invited to publish the findings of my research in a prestigious journal and established a new collaboration with a laboratory in Montreal.
Dr Lena Oestreich
NHMRC Emerging Leadership Fellow, The University of Queensland,
Organization for Human Brain Mapping, Canada, 2022
As an early-career woman scientist, it was a career highlight and critical recognition of my research from my peers to be invited to deliver two presentations at this internationally recognised conference… a significant opportunity to highlight this new program of work I have been conducting, given most of the results are currently unpublished.
Dr Rhea Longley
Senior Research Officer, Population Health & Immunity Division Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, 20th International Congress for Tropical Medicine and Malaria, Thailand, 2022
I have identified specific individuals who I can now reach out to for mentorship, support, and/or collaboration. Positive feedback on my work and realising that other researchers are interested in similar research questions to me and value my contribution gave me a real boost in motivation to continue to pursue my research.
Dr Louisa Prishanthi Selvadurai
Research Fellow, Department of Neuroscience, Monash University, International Congress for Ataxia Research and Ataxia Global Conference, USA, 2022
The audience was highly engaged with both my talk and poster. On a personal level, I found this level of engagement with my research incredibly refreshing and motivating.
Dr Benjamin Noble
Research Fellow, Australian Centre for Electromagnetic Bioeffects Research, School of Engineering, RMIT University, 12th Triennial Congress of the World Association of Theoretical and Computational Chemists, Canada, 2022
The knowledge I gathered by attending these events has renewed my fascination in brain research and reminded me why I chose to study neuroscience in the first place
Dr Nirma Perera
Senior Research Officer, The Florey Institute of Neuroscience & Mental Health, International Society for Neurochemistry, Journal of Neurochemistry Flagship School, Germany, 2022
The meeting was hybrid blend of academic research and industry projects. It was truly valuable to see how microbiome research has been developed by industry for translation and commercialisation.
Dr Emily Hoedt
Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Newcastle, International Human Microbiome Consortium, Japan 2022
My participation at the GRS/GRC reinvigorated my passion for myelin research and allowed me to be exposed to approaches and ideas that I would not otherwise be exposed to within the relatively small community of myelin researchers based in Australia.
Dr Jessica Fletcher
Postdoctoral Research Fellow – Neuroscience, University of Tasmania, Gordon Research Seminar and Conference on Myelin, Barga, Italy, 2022
The week-long intensive exposure to world-class, unpublished research has once before catapulted me into a more innovative approach to solve my research problems (reflected in growing success in attracting funding)…. All attendants are highly engaged, open and keen to share, exchange and devise new ideas, thus making this an unique opportunity for me to grow as a chemical biologist and academic as a whole.
Dr Michael Gotsbacher
Lecturer, University of Sydney, Gordon Research Conference and Seminar “Bioorganic Chemistry”, Andover, USA, 2022
A highlight of the meeting program was a series of bench-to-bedside debates on critical questions and unmet needs in the lymphoma field, followed by interactive panel discussions. These consultations were directly applicable to my current research and helped me better refine my hypotheses and research questions.
Dr Jay Gunawardana
Senior Research Officer, University of Queensland 3rd AACR International Meeting: Advances in Malignant Lymphoma, Boston, USA, 2022
Nothing beats an in-person conference. The science is more engaging in person, and so much of the value in attending conferences comes from outside the sessions (during coffee breaks, over meals, etc.). It was phenomenal to be able to directly engage with the top scientists in my field again… These interactions will no doubt increase the quality of my research, leading to high-impact publications and new funding opportunities
DR LAURA EDGINTON-MITCHELL
Senior Research Fellow, University of Melbourne, Gordon Research Conference, The Regulation of Proteolysis in Health, Disease and Treatment, Il Ciocco, Italy, 2022
The benefit of the connections that I have formed at this meeting are immeasurable. Presenting your work to an international audience and making international connections is so critically important for new group leaders, and this is what I have missed out on for many years...
DR ROBYN BROWN
Senior Research Fellow, University of Melbourne, 8th Mediterranean Neuroscience Society Conference, Dubrovnik, Croatia, 2022
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