Travel Grants

Travel grant recipients have their meeting registration fees covered for the ARVO Annual Meeting as well receive a partial travel stipend. Notifications are sent to travel grant recipients prior to the registration deadline. Recipients must have an accepted abstract for the upcoming ARVO Annual Meeting to be considered. 

Travel grants are provided to those whose research findings in the abstract are considered to be of high interest to the vision and ophthalmology research community. The ARVO Annual Meeting provides a unique opportunity for trainees and early career investigators to discuss their research with leaders in their fields and receive encouragement to continue their work.

These travel grants are funded by ARVO, the National Eye Institute, organizations and corporations, as well as through contributions to the ARVO Foundation for Eye and Vision Research.

Travel grants are awarded to those who:

• are in full-time training or completed after June 2021 – individuals enrolled full-time as undergraduate, graduate, optometry or medical students at institutions of higher learning in a scientific field related to vision or ophthalmology. Student status will be verified.
  
  
• meet the criteria of travel grants
  
  
• who have not previously received any of the following:
  
  
  • any ARVO Annual Meeting Travel Grant whether supported by ARVO, The ARVO Foundation for Eye Research, or a third party such as NEI, Retina Research Foundation, Nicolas Bazan, etc.
    
    
  • an International Chapter Affiliate-supported travel grant to the ARVO Annual Meeting
    
    
  • a Developing Country Eye Researcher Travel Fellowship (DCERF) award
    
    

Please note that if you received a virtual travel grant in 2021 or 2022, you are eligible to re-apply for a travel grant.

An abstract must be submitted and accepted for the upcoming Annual Meeting to be eligible for any of the Travel Grants (Abstract submission for ARVO 2025 will close on Dec. 6, 2024). Travel Grant application is part of the abstract submission process. A panel of recognized experts review and score accepted abstracts. The recipients are selected based on grant criteria and reviewer scores. Travel Grant recipients are notified by the first week of March.