CASS Travel Awards

CASS has awarded 857 Travel Awards valued at $2,867,228 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 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
It was a privilege to meet in person many high-profile researchers in the perinatal field whose research I have closely followed over several years. All congress attendees were staying in the one remote location which provided an outstanding opportunity for meaningful interactions during poster sessions and meals.
Dr Julie Wixey
Postdoctoral Research Fellow, The University of Queensland,13th Hershey Conference on Developmental Brain Injury, USA
This was the first multi-disciplinary stroke conference I had attended, and it was an inspiring experience. A personal highlight for me was an incredible presentation ... on stroke care from the Māori consumer perspective.
Dr Sarah Wallace
NHMRC Emerging Leadership Fellow, The University of Queensland, Stroke Society of Australasia, Christchurch, 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
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 TAMARA BUTLER
Post Doctoral Researcher, Menzies School of Health research
World Indigenous Cancer Conference & the International psycho-oncology society conference, Canada, 2019
It was a highly rewarding and productive trip and has made a big difference for me in establishing my independent research career... awarded a prize for the best presentation by an early career researcher... this is a good promotion for the work that I have published and presented on...
dr NATHAN BOASE
Lecturer, Science & Engineering Faculty, Chemistry, Physics & Mechanical Engineering, Queensland University Of Technology
Eurobiofilms, Scotland, 2019