November 8-11, 2026

New York City, USA


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 2026 is September 19th, 2026 (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 and National Science Foundation. 

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.

We also encourage applicants to consider 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 are encouraged to participate in the full duration of the conference.

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/ie7S5VVztfruYHDt5.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 2026 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, 2026 (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.

Registration

We urge applicants to hold off on registering for the conference until after a decision is made regarding a travel grant on their behalf. Travel grants will include a registration fee waiver.

Criteria

The travel awards will strive to make FOCS’26 accessible to everyone who has research interests in areas covered by FOCS conferences, regardless of institutional affiliation, nationality, gender, or identification with a societal group. Subject to this principle, 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.