FEBS Congress Mathias Sprinzl Scheme

The FEBS Congress Mathias Sprinzl Scheme aims to encourage active participation in the Congress of scientists from FEBS Constituent Societies in Hinari (Research4Life) countries in the FEBS area (Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Moldova, Morocco, Tunisia, Ukraine) – by providing a 50% reduction in the early registration fee of eligible applicants presenting their work at the event. For an explanation of Hinari countries for FEBS 2024, see the page footnote. 

For the 48th FEBS Congress (FEBS 2024), the fees for 'Academic' and 'Young Scientist' categories of participants in the Sprinzl scheme are reduced to €295 and €147.50, respectively. For definitions of Academic and Young Scientist, see the Registration page. 

Eligibility

To be eligible for the registration fee discount in the FEBS Congress Mathias Sprinzl Scheme, scientists must:

• be a registered PhD student or a PhD holder resident (studying/working) in Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Morocco, Moldova, Tunisia or Ukraine
• be a member of one of the FEBS Constituent Societies in these countries (Association of Armenian Biochemists, Association of Biochemists and Molecular Biologists in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Association of Georgian Biochemists, Moroccan Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Moldovan Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Tunisian Association of Biological Sciences, Ukrainian Biochemical Society)
• be presenting an abstract at the Congress as first author. Abstracts must be submitted by the deadline of March 8, 2024 and meet the quality standards for the event, as explained on the Call for Abstracts webpage.

How to apply

Via the online registration and abstract submission system:

• select the participant type 'Academic – FEBS Sprinzl' or, if applicable, 'Young Scientist – FEBS Sprinzl
• 'upload the following documents as a single pdf and in this order:
  
  
  1. proof of current membership of one of the relevant FEBS Constituent Societies for this scheme (scanned copy of current membership certificate/letter, dated within the past year, from your FEBS Constituent Society)
  2. proof of working as a PhD holder or studying as a registered PhD student in one of the relevant countries
  3. age id if selecting 'Young Scientist – FEBS Sprinzl'
• proceed with completion of your registration order, including payment at the reduced rate by March 8, 2024
• submit your abstract by March 8, 2024

Acceptance to the Sprinzl scheme

There is a specific budgeted financial support from FEBS for the reduction of registration fees in this scheme, which is offered on a first come first served basis, so applicants are encouraged to register as soon as possible. 

Acceptance into the Sprinzl scheme will be confirmed following abstract assessments and document checking, with notifications expected by April 15, 2024. If your application does not meet the requirements for the Sprinzl scheme or the scheme is oversubscribed by the time of your registration, you will be offered registration at the standard rate or you can request a refund of your registration fee according to the refund policy of the event.

Travel and accommodation support

Note that travel and accommodation expenses are not covered in general by the Sprinzl scheme, which is focused on a reduced registration fee, as set out above. However, there are two additional offers of support from FEBS that early- or mid-career Sprinzl scheme applicants may be eligible for, and also special provision for Ukrainian scientists for FEBS 2024.

(1) FEBS Bursaries

Early-career scientists from the eligible Hinari (Research4Life) countries listed above and who are eligible for FEBS bursaries may apply for these via the 'Young Scientist – FEBS Sprinzl' registration category. Please follow the guidelines on the bursary page.

If you are unsuccessful in obtaining a FEBS bursary but fulfil the requirements of the Sprinzl scheme and capacity remains in that after assessments for bursary applications, you will be accepted into the Sprinzl scheme of reduced registration fees. If your application does not meet the requirements for the Sprinzl scheme, or the scheme is oversubscribed after assessments for bursary applications, you will be offered registration at the standard rate or you can request a refund of your registration fee according to the refund policy of the event.

(2) FEBS Sprinzl travel grants

There will also be a limited number of travel grants of €500 Euro available for mid-career scientists (up to 40 years of age at the March 8, 2024 application deadline – with some allowances made; see CV template referred to below) who are accepted into the Congress Sprinzl scheme and are not eligible for FEBS bursaries.

To apply for a FEBS Sprinzl travel grant, candidates should include (a) their Curriculum Vitae, prepared using the 2024 Congress Sprinzl CV template and (b) age id in their Sprinzl scheme application; please combine these into a single pdf with the first two items listed under ‘How to apply’ above when uploading the supporting documents.

The selection of applicants for FEBS Sprinzl travel grants will be decided on merit by the FEBS Integration Committee and communicated independently of Congress notifications. Successful applicants will receive details of how to request payment of the grant by FEBS, which will be made after confirmed attendance at the event.

(3) Special support for Ukrainian scientists

There is an additional allocation of funding available for FEBS 2024 for more spaces in the FEBS bursary scheme and in the Sprinzl travel grant scheme for eligible scientists in or displaced from Ukraine. In addition, the age limit for application for Sprinzl travel grants is waived for such scientists.
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*The Hinari initiative was set up by the World Health Organization and major publishers to enable developing countries to access collections of biomedical and health literature, and is one program within Research4Life. In 2016, FEBS renamed its Congress participation support scheme open to countries eligible for the Hinari program in memory of Mathias Sprinzl, who was Chair of the FEBS Working Group on Integration 2009–2016.

Although Belarus is in the Research4Life list, the Belarusian Society of Biochemists and Molecular Biologists is temporarily suspended from FEBS, so members of this Society are not currently able to apply for support via the Sprinzl scheme.