December 14-17, 2025

Sydney, Australia


Travel Awards for Students and Postdoctoral Fellows

Travel awards are funded from multiple sources.  Travel award funding will be distributed from each source in accordance with the policy specified by that source.

This year, the deadline to apply for funding to support participation in FOCS 2025 is September 19th, 2025 (11:59pm AoE). Travel awards for students and postdoctoral fellows (to partially support the travel for attending the conference) are made possible thanks to our generous sponsors, as well as the IEEE TCMF budget. 

Travel awards are intended for students who are short on funds, and will include a registration fee waiver, and, based on funding availability, accommodation for the duration of the conference. Hotel reservations will be made directly by the organizing committee on behalf of the attendees.

We also encourage applicants to consider the satellite events, some of which have their own travel awards process, as well as the travel support from TCS For All.

Note: a portion of the travel funding comes from the National Science Foundation (NSF), for which only US-based students and postdoctoral fellows are eligible. The rest of the travel grants is not subject to this restriction.

Participation

Recipients of a travel award will be encouraged to participate in the conference by writing a short blog post or report on a talk or event they attended at the conference, to be published on a “FOCS 2025 Reports” blog.

Application Process

To apply, you will need to fill out the following form by September 19th, 2025 (11:59pm AoE) in which you provide some information about yourself. This information will be used to prioritize the awards (see the prioritization for awards below).

 
or use this link: https://forms.gle/gfnHvkpuvvMMcx7G6 .In addition to filling this form, you will need to have your advisor, academic mentor, or department chair send a short letter of support, which also describes the availability of other travel funds.(Note: vague statements such as “funds are tight” are not informative.) An advisor may support the applications of at most two students for a travel award.
 

This letter should be sent to by email to [email protected] with subject line “FOCS 2025 Travel Award Application: [Your Name]“. This is very important, as your application is not complete without this letter.

 
This form and the email from your advisor must be received by ⏰ September 19th, 2025 (11:59pm AoE). Late applications will not be accepted. You will be notified about your status no later than September 29th.
A number of the travel grants may be awarded on a rolling basis, before September 29th, for applicants who need advanced notice due to visa application reasons. If you are in this position, please indicate it in the last answer, when filling the application form.
 

Criteria

Priority for Travel Awards will be based on the following:

  • Student authors and co-authors of accepted papers who do not have other support.
  • Student applicants whose statements and supporting information make particularly cogent justification for the benefit they will receive from attending the conference.
  • Postdoctoral authors of accepted papers who do not have other support.
  • First-time applicants and students who have not received other travel-related stipends to FOCS or STOC in the recent past.
  • (Non-NSF travel grants only) Members of underrepresented groups or from institutions not traditionally represented at the conference who have research interests in areas covered by FOCS and whose attendance would broaden participation at the conference.