COMET Training and Travel (T&T) Fund
These grants help COMET PhD Students, Postdoctoral Researchers, or Associates to meet the costs of specialist training courses and to network and publicise their research by presenting their work at workshops and conferences.
- Up to £500 per grant
Eligibility:
- This scheme is open to current COMET Associates, Postdoctoral Researchers and PhD students who are registered on a relevant degree course.
- COMET members (students and postdoctoral researchers) with access to COMET expenses funding through their supervisors, or who have Research Training Support Grants (RTSGs) or an expenses budget from another funding source, should not apply for COMET Training and Travel Grants unless they require additional funding to undertake COMET-related activities.
- No applicant may receive more than two COMET Training and Travel Grants in any five-year period. To ensure funds are spread across COMET members in need of additional financial support, a second grant will only be awarded in exceptional circumstances and we will not usually be able to offer two awards to the same applicant in the same financial year (Apr-Mar).
- No retrospective claims for funding will be considered.
- If the applicant plans to attend a conference or meeting, they must plan to give a presentation.
- Applications for travel to mandatory training to complete a degree or research programme will not be considered.
- Applications for specialist training or courses that will help improve your current research will be considered.
Funding Timeline:
- There is no application deadline; instead, there are two opening dates within a 12 month period (in April and September).
- Once funding for one round has been allocated, the round will close until the next opening date.
- If the meeting or training course you wish to attend is between April and the end of August, you must apply to the first round. If the meeting is from September-March, you should apply to the second round. (Please note that awards may take up to 2 weeks to be processed, therefore events taking place in the first three weeks of July are eligible for the first round).
Application review process:
- Applications will be assessed for eligibility by the COMET Manager and will be awarded on a first come, first serve basis if they meet the application criteria.
- We aim to review applications within 10 working days from submission.
- Partial awards may be offered if there is not enough funding available within the relevant funding round.
COMET T&T Fund (September 2025): Still open for applications here
COMET EDI and Outreach Fund
- Up to £3k per project
- Funding can be used to cover the cost of the following: equipment, consumables, travel and subsistence, data collection, temporary research or administrative assistance.
- Recipients of COMET EDI and Outreach funding will be required to submit a short overview of their project and its impacts for inclusion in COMET reports and promotion in COMET communications. You may also be asked to present a talk or poster on your project at the COMET Annual Meeting.
Potential uses for these funds include, but are not limited to:
- Projects, activities, or research in COMET’s areas of expertise, that are related to gender, disability, socio-economic background, language, race and ethnicity, the LGBTQ+ community, pregnancy and parental responsibilities, or anything else that can be demonstrated to promote EDI issues.
- Projects to engage with schools and the general public, particularly under-represented audiences within COMET and the UK Earth Science research community. COMET diversity monitoring information will be published in the COMET Annual Report.
- Creating COMET-related outreach and public engagement materials or activities.
Proposals should include:
- COMET contributors and partners (if applicable),
- Basic project outline (to include overall aims, a brief description of what you are planning to do, timeframes and key dates and where the project will take place),
- A summary of anticipated outcomes and impact,
- Budget (including any co-funding). Please note that all funds should be spent by the end of March 2026.
Eligibility: This scheme is open to COMET Scientists, Associates, Staff, Postdoctoral Researchers and PhD students (PhD students should be supervised by a COMET scientist or associate and be working on COMET-related science). We particularly encourage proposals that will develop new collaborations across COMET, with partners outside COMET, and those that enhance collaborations with scientists in the BGS.
Application review process: Applications will be reviewed by a COMET EDI Action Group panel and assessed on their focus on COMET areas of expertise, audience, the feasibility of the proposal, the proposed outcomes of the work, the impact of the proposed work, and the potential impact of COMET funding on the ability to deliver the project. Partial awards may be offered.
Funding Timeline:
- 27th January 2025: Applications close
- February 2025: Applications reviewed
- Mid-February 2025: Awards announced
31st March 2026: Deadline for project spend.
Application form: https://app.onlinesurveys.jisc.ac.uk/s/leeds/comet-edi-and-outreach-fund
COMET Event Response, Fieldwork and Imagery Fund (COMET EFI Fund)
The COMET Event Response, Fieldwork and Imagery Fund (COMET EFI Fund) helps COMET members to respond rapidly to events, undertake important COMET-related fieldwork, and purchase Earth Observation imagery in support of COMET objectives. This fund will not support travel to conferences, meetings, or training courses.
- Not normally more than £5000 per grant
- We only have a small pot of up to £10,000 to allocate each year across all categories, so please consider other available funding opportunities, where possible, before applying for COMET support.
Eligibility:
- This scheme is normally only open to COMET Scientists, Staff, and Associates. Postdoctoral Researchers and PhD students who are registered on a relevant degree course may be eligible to apply if the work they plan to undertake will directly support COMET objectives or COMET activities.
- COMET members with access to COMET expenses funding (directly or through their managers/supervisors) should only apply for the COMET Event Response, Fieldwork and Imagery Fund if they require additional funding to undertake relevant activities.
- Group applications (including more than one COMET member) are welcomed.
- To ensure funds are spread across COMET members in need of additional financial support, applicants will not normally be awarded more than £5000 in a 5-year period. We will not usually be able to offer more than one award to a specific COMET member in the same financial year (Apr-Mar).
- Funding requests should be submitted and approved before making any purchases or booking travel. Retrospective claims for funding will not normally be permitted.
- Recipients agree to:
- write a report or article on any work associated with these funds for inclusion in COMET reports,
- contribute imagery and information that can be used on the COMET website and promotional channels (including social media),
- attend and present any work that emerges from this grant at the COMET Annual Meeting,
- acknowledge COMET support in any outputs and presentations.
Specific Requirements for Event Response Funding
- It should be made clear in the funding application that collaboration and effective communication with in-country scientists/any other event responders have been taken into consideration.
- Where possible, recipients are expected to submit a NERC urgency grant application to try to recoup the costs of COMET’s response. Our event response funding is limited and is aimed at supporting COMET members to get in the field as soon as possible.
Funding Timeline:
- There is no application deadline. Applications will be accepted throughout the year.
- Once funding for the financial year (April-March) has been fully allocated, applications will close until 1st April.
- The status of the fund will be updated in the members’ area of the COMET website – please check whether applications are still open before submitting.
Application review process:
- Applications will be assessed for eligibility by the COMET Executive Committee and will be awarded on a first come, first served basis if they meet the application criteria and are deemed relevant to the COMET science programme and current objectives.
- We aim to review Event Response applications within 3 working days from submission.
- We aim to review applications for imagery or fieldwork within 10 working days from submission.
- Partial awards may be offered if there is not enough funding available within the relevant funding year.
Application form: https://app.onlinesurveys.jisc.ac.uk/s/leeds/comet-event-response-fieldwork-imagery-fund
