Fertility 2027 SRF Bursary

(ICC Belfast, Northern Ireland)

Applications are open

BURSARY FOR SRF MEMBERS – FERTILITY 2027

Fertility 2027, the joint annual conference of ARCS, BFS and the SRF is the main scientific conference in the SRF’s annual calendar of events.  In 2027, the conference will take place in Belfast, Scotland, from Tuesday, 12 to Friday, 15 January 2027. The SRF Satellite Day will be held on Tuesday, 12 January.

The SRF Council is continuing to support the conference and encourages as many members as possible to attend the event by applying for the specific, stand alone, SRF Fertility Bursary.  The 2027 SRF Bursary is open to all members (Full, Early Career, Retired and Honorary), including members who have received a Travel Grant in the past 2 years.

A budget of £70,000 has been allocated for Fertility Bursaries for 2027, therefore, a bursary award is not guaranteed and will be offered in order of applications received, providing all eligibility criteria are met at the time of application. We therefore advise members to apply as soon as possible.

Fertility Bursary Eligibility

Due to the above budget, a bursary award is not guaranteed and will be offered in order of applications received and criteria being met.  Please read carefully as some changes have been made (see Terms and Conditions).  All bursary offers are awarded on the understanding that members remain and pay for membership for the year of the conference (i.e. they must pay for 2027 membership).

Retired and Honorary Members are exempt from membership payment, but all other terms and criteria will be applied.

Full Members who have been SRF Members for at least 2 membership years (i.e. must have paid for membership in 2025 and renewed and paid for 2026 before they apply) are eligible to apply.

Student and Associate Members who have been SRF Members for at least 2 membership years (i.e. must have paid for membership in 2025 and 2026 before they apply) are eligible to apply. Priority will be given to those applicants who have an accepted abstract for Fertility 2027.

• Members will receive registration, accommodation as specified below, travel, 50% conference dinner and SRF social ticket.
• Student, Master’s and PhD students will require confirmation of permission to attend from the course supervisor.  The supervisor’s permission letter will be requested when completing the form (applicants must ensure they have this letter before they start to complete the application, as it must be uploaded with the form submission – submissions without the letter will not be processed).

New Student and First-Year PhD Members

Please note that a budget of £10,000 has been allocated for this group and new members can apply for a bursary providing they fit the following criteria.

• Are enrolled in a BSc or Masters degree, or in the First Year of a PhD programme in a discipline related to the mission of the SRF (applicants will be requested to upload this during submission).
• Confirmation of permission to attend from the course supervisor will be requested when completing the form (applicants must ensure they have this letter before they complete the form to upload before submission can be completed).
• Bursaries will be offered in order of applications received – providing all eligibility criteria are met at the time of application.
• Members must have applied for membership by Tuesday 30 June, it is strongly advised that students apply as soon as possible, late applications will not be accepted for bursary purposes. Please note that membership processing can take up to 6 weeks, therefore membership applications must have been received by 30 June and paid for their membership by Friday 4 September 2026.

Local Members SRF members who either work, live (or both) within a 30km radius of the venue International Conference Centre Belfast (ICC Belfast), 2 Lanyon Place, Belfast, BT1 3WH will receive registration and a contribution to the conference dinner only. 

SRF Associate Editor Members who have been invited to attend the Reproduction Editorial Board Meeting AND who have been an SRF member for at least 2 membership years (i.e. must have paid for membership in 2025 and renewed and paid for 2026 before they apply) are eligible to apply. Please note that AEs will be advised of their travel allowance separately.

The SRF Bursary Offer

THe bursary will cover Early Bird registration only.

Accommodation:

A maximum sum of £50 per night for up to 3 nights (a maximum of £150 for the entire meeting) will be available for all SRF members except those who either work, or whose home address (or both) is within a 30km radius of the ICC Belfast.

Travel:

SRF will reimburse the cheapest economy fare on public transport or car allowance (40p per mile per car), from the applicant’s city of work to accommodation in Edinburgh on arrival and departure only, to the maximum of the fixed rate below.

Any other travel expenses i.e. between accommodation and venue, taxi or similar private modes of transport will not be reimbursed.  The SRF kindly ask that public transport be used and will only cover the public transport cost, or car sharing if public transport is not possible.

Members living and/or working in Belfast Applicants whose place of work is within 30km radius of the ICC Belfast will not receive accommodation or any travel allowance. The calculation for Belfast local members will be measured using ‘as the crow flies’ (see below).

UK and Ireland residents.  All members from the UK and Ireland will receive a maximum sum of up to £75.

Non-UK based members Travel will be calculated on a fixed band system based on the distance travelled from the city of your place of work to Edinburgh.   To ensure fairness, this distance will be calculated using an online tool based on distance ‘as the crow flies’ as follows. Please calculate your distance before you complete the application form using https://www.gps-coordinates.net/distance or similar.

<1000KM                          £150
1001-2000km                   £250
2001-3000km                   £350
>3001km                           £500

All distance calculations will use an ‘as the crow flies’ approach https://www.gps-coordinates.net/distance . Please note that travel allowances as indicated are final.

Visa

Please email the SRF Secretariat at srf@conferencecollective.co.uk if you require a visa letter.  The Secretariat provide a standard visa letter, which will be provided within 10 working days of the initial request. When requesting, ensure all relevant information is provided, this may vary on the consulate so please check first (full name, institution, and addresses needed for the letter). The SRF Secretariat are only able to provide aletter they, are unable to give any advice or individual visa information. Please apply as early as possible to avoid any cancellation costs.

Conference Dinner

The bursary will cover 50% of the conference dinner (cost TBC).  If dinner is requested, the member will be registered by the Secretariat and the remaining amount will be deducted from the final claim.

• Local members will be invoiced after they have confirmed they are accepting the bursary.
• Once confirmed in the bursary offer, the conference dinner cannot be cancelled.

Terms of Full Attendance Bursary

• All membership payments, as indicated above, must have been paid before the application is submitted. Applications that do not meet these criteria will be disregarded.
• When applying, you must confirm that you are a current member and have paid for membership as requested, if unsure please contact the SRF Secretariat.
• The bursary award is not guaranteed, and bursaries will be offered in order of applications received, provided all criteria are  met at the time of application.
• The scheme will close when the budget has been reached or by the advertised deadline. No applications received after the deadline will be processed.
• Applications from new members (students and first year PhD) will only be accepted if they have applied for membership by the noted deadline.
• If the physical meeting is cancelled, all attendees will automatically be transferred to virtual registration. Please make sure all accommodation and travel is refundable, as this will not be covered by SRF in this circumstance.
• All members will be expected to pay for their accommodation and travel, and submit a claim with all receipts and an attendance certificate after the conference. Only one claim can be made per applicant. Claims missing either the receipts or the attendance certificate, or both, will not be reimbursed.
• Accommodation and travel expenses will be paid on confirmation from the organisers that you attended the conference. No consumables (i.e. food or drinks) will be reimbursed.
• Recipients must confirm their acceptance for the bursary by the date indicated on the offer, failure to do so will result in the offer being withdrawn.
• Members may be asked to pay a deposit to secure their bursary.
• The Fertility Registration 

  Terms and Conditions

  apply to SRF bursary recipients.  And noted below

• If a member cancels their bursary offer before 31 October 2026, there will be no charge.
• If a member cancels their bursary offer after 31 October 2026, they will be invoiced for a 12% administration fee.
• If a member cancels their bursary offer before 8 December 2026, they will be invoiced for 50% of the registration cost.
• If a member cancels their bursary offer from 9 December 2026, they will be invoiced for 100% of the registration cost.

Cancellation Process

All cancellations must be in writing to srf@conferencecollective.co.uk, who will send confirmation of cancellation. If cancellation is within the above timeline, an invoice for the percentage cost of registration and conference dinner (if requested) will be issued and must be paid within one month of issue.

• If an applicant fails to attend, as advised by the conference organisers, Seren Events, they will be invoiced for the full cost of their registration, conference dinner, SRF social and any other expenses that the Society has paid on their behalf.
• All successful applicants are asked to go to the SRF stand to confirm their attendance.

Bursary Timeline

Tuesday 30 June 2026: SRF Fertility bursary closes 5pm, GMT. Late applications will NOT be accepted.

Monday 16 August 2026:  SRF Bursary applicants will be notified by the SRF Secretariat (The Conference Collective) of the outcome of their bursary application.

Friday 11 September 2026: SRF Bursary applicants must confirm by this date, failure to do so will result in the offer being withdrawn. (Applicants can cancel thier bursary offer free of charge up to 31 October 2026.

Cancellation:

Currently, Fertility 2026 is being planned as a full attendance event, it is your responsibility to ensure that all reservations you make for travel and accommodation can be cancelled.  The SRF will not cover any accommodation or travel costs if the Full Attendance meeting is cancelled or individuals need to cancel for personal reasons.

Insurance

Recipients are advised to buy full insurance to cover any cost should they need to cancel.

Registration

All bursary applications will be registered directly with the conference organisers after the Early Bird deadline. Registration confirmation should be received by mid November, for any queries after this date please contact the Fertility Events Team (fertility@serenevents.com).