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Specific support has been set aside for the following, up-coming meetings. Those interested to apply should complete a Pool Travel Fund application before the relevant deadline.

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Dates

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Meeting

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Venue

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Pool Travel Appl. Deadline

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14^th—18^th August 2017

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LSST 2017 Project and Community Workshop

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Tucson, Arizona

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Extended to 17^th July (5 participants)

Introduction

During Phase A, the LSST:UK Science Centre has some funding available to cover travel and subsistence costs¹ resulting from attendance at LSST Science Collaboration meetings (typically, in the USA) by LSST:UK Consortium members not in receipt of travel funding through one of the Phase A grants². Available funds total £91,763 over the four-year duration of the project and it has been agreed, by the LSST:UK Consortium Board that this funding will be allocated in the proportion of 30%, 30%, 20%, and 20% across the four years.

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Introduction

The STFC funding for the LSST:UK Science Centre (LUSC) includes a budget to support participation in LSST-related science meetings by LSST:UK Consortium members. This LSST:UK Pool Travel Fund is primarily intended for covering travel and subsistence costs resulting from attendance of meetings (e.g., those organised by LSST Science Collaboration or the Rubin Observatory) by Consortium members not covered (as a LUSC grant PI/Co-I or grant-funded staff member) by travel funding associated with an in-kind contribution as part of the LUSC programme, but a fraction (<25%) may also be used to reimburse Consortium institutions for costs associated with hosting such meetings.

All claims to be made against the Pool Travel Fund, whether for individual travel or meeting hosting, must be pre-approved by the LSST:UK Executive Group. and must follow the guidelines below, as regards eligibility and process. Questions and comments regarding the fund or the application process may be made to one of the LSST:UK Project Manager George Beckett Managers (@George Beckett and @Terry Sloan ; lusc_pm@mlist.is.ed.ac.uk) or the LSST:UK Project Leader Bob Mann.¹ Travel costs are claimed back, in the first instance, from an individual's employing institution. As such, (@Bob Mann; rgm@roe.ac.uk).

Applying for support

Support may be requested for attending LSST-related meetings or hosting them. In both cases, requests are made using an application form and are assessed by the LSST:UK Executive Group, using the criteria listed below. Not all applications will be successful, so applicants are strongly advised not to make any financial commitments (e.g. buying tickets) until they have learnt the outcome of their request. Consequently, applications should be made well in advance of the need for expenditure; the Executive Group meets once a month, but can consider applications between meetings when necessary. The LSST:UK Pool Travel Fund was awarded as part of the University of Edinburgh LUSC grant, and, in common with travel and subsistence claims against STFC grants, Edinburgh will only be reimbursed for 80% of the total cost of any claim, so the applicant’s institution must cover the remaining 20% of the total agreed cost.

Support for attending meetings

All applications for Pool Travel Fund support for meeting attendance must be made using the application form that is available here. As part of this form, the applicant must explain the scientific benefits that would result from their attendance of the meeting, and it is this scientific return that is the primary criterion used by the Executive Group in assessing the application, although the Executive Group will also consider value for money and will favour applications from Early Career Researchers and members of under-represented groups. In all cases, the applicant must justify in-person attendance, if the meeting supports remote participation.

Support will be only provided for meetings that are directly related to LSST, or, in exceptional circumstances, where the applicant is to present work directly related to LSST at a more general conference. The Executive Group maintain a list of forthcoming LSST-related meetings, and these will also be advertised in LSST:UK Newsletters. In some cases, where the Executive Group anticipate a particularly strong interest, they may issue a call for applications via the lusc-announce email list and restrict the number of attendees to be funded. Consortium members may, however, apply for funding to attend meetings others than those so advertised, but the Executive Group’s decision on the relevance of the meeting will be final.

As noted below, a successful applicant will initially claim reimbursement of their expenses from their home institution, so the definition of eligible travel costs is ultimately determined by the employing institution's policy and that institution’s policies and its implementation of STFC rules. Typically one may claim for incurred , allowed costs include costs of travel to / and from the workshop/ meeting, accommodation, subsistence, additional carer cost (e.g. childcare), registration fees, and visa costs. However, for accurate and specific information, one should contact one's institutional finance team (or equivalent).

² You are eligible to apply for support from the pool travel fund so long as you are not named as a directly incurred resource on the Phase A grant, nor are a co-investigator with time charged to the grant.

Applying for support

All applications for financial support for travel must be made using the application form that is available here. Travel funding will be allocated via two means:

• For strategically important meetings that are anticipated to generate significant UK interest in participating, the LSST:UK Executive Committee will agree a number of participants that can be funded and issue a call for applications. The call will be sent out via the LSST:UK email list and will be noted at the top of this page, and results will normally be advised to applicants within one week of the call deadline.
• Other meetings are funded via a responsive mode mechanism. You may apply for support at any time, though you should aim to complete this travel request at least two months in advance of the planned travel. The result of an application is normally advised within two weeks.

Please note that the University of Edinburgh can only reimburse your institution for the same 80% of the total claim for which STFC will reimburse it, so you must ensure that the remaining 20% of the cost of your trip can be met by another source. Please report the full estimated costs in your application, not the 80% cost for which you seek reimbursement from the Travel Fund.

If your proposed attendance relies on a successful application to the LUSC Travel Fund, then you are strongly advised not to purchase any tickets (nor make any financial commitments) until the result of your application for support is confirmed, but applicants should consult their local finance team if they have any questions about what costs may be reimbursed.

Support for hosting meetings

While the Pool Travel Fund is primarily intended to support UK researchers attending LSST-related meetings, it may be cost-effective and scientifically beneficial for some such meetings to be held in the UK and a fraction (<25%) of the Pool Travel Fund may made be available to institutions hosting such meetings. Applications for such funding should be made via this form.

The main criterion for assessing such applications will be the scientific return to the LSST:UK community from the proposed meeting, although value for money will also be considered. The scientific return from a meeting will be enhanced by its being focussed  on topics for which there is strong UK interest and relevance to LSST is demonstrated. The applicants must explain why the meeting should be held in-person, rather than online, and they should support remote participation, if possible, to broaden the range of potential attendees.

The Executive Group will consider making a contribution from the Pool Travel Fund to any meeting-related costs, but expect these to focus on catering and, with justification, travel and subsistence for key overseas speakers. It is not expected that potential host institutions will claim for room hire or for secretarial support in organising the meeting. As for all Pool Travel clams, the host institution will only be reimbursed for 80% of the agreed costs.

Claiming expenses

Claims against the Travel Fund should be made in accordance with the terms circulated by Edinburgh Research and Innovation to all Consortium Board members in October 2015 and reproduced here. The process is summarised below.

In the first instance, you would normally claim back expenses from a local budget (at your home institution) in line with your institution's guidelines for reimbursement of expenses. Your finance team would then send an invoice to the LSST:UK Project Leader Bob Mann, at Edinburgh, for 80% of the incurred expenditure (as is standard for STFC grants), along with a summary of the expenditure items. The expectation is that aggregated claims will be invoiced on a quarterly basis though, in practice and where there are only occasional invoices, it is reasonable to submit as soon as is convenient for the local finance team.

If your finance team require so in order to raise an invoice, Edinburgh University can provide a purchase orderPurchase Order. However, to do so involves additional administrative effort, so we ask that you only request a purchase order if it is entirely necessary.

The following data may be useful in preparing an invoice:

Acknowledgements

You should acknowledge any support you receive from the LUSC LSST:UK Travel Fund, in related papers, presentations, and so on. A suggested form of words is "We acknowledge travel support provided by STFC for UK participation in LSST through grant grants ST/N002512S006206/1 "and ST/X001334/1”.