FEBS Congress Mathias Sprinzl Scheme

The FEBS Congress Mathias Sprinzl scheme aims to encourage active participation in the Congress of scientists from FEBS Constituent Societies in Hinari (Research4Life) countries in the FEBS area (Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Moldova, Morocco, Tunisia, Ukraine) – by providing a 50% reduction in the early registration fee of eligible applicants presenting their work at the event. For an explanation of Hinari countries for FEBS 2025, see the page footnote. 

For the 49th FEBS Congress (FEBS 2025), the fees for 'Academic' and 'Young Scientist' categories of participants in the Sprinzl scheme are reduced to €300 and €162.50, respectively. For definitions of Academic and Young Scientist, see the Registration page.

Interested in applying? Please read the following guidelines carefully as the Sprinzl scheme procedure has been updated for the 2025 FEBS Congress.

The application deadline is 30 January 2025. There is a specific budgeted financial support from FEBS for the reduction of registration fees in this scheme, and participants accepted to the scheme will be decided on merit by the FEBS Integration and Networking Committee before payment of registration fees.

For the 2025 FEBS Congress, there will be no overlap between the Sprinzl scheme and FEBS Congress bursary scheme. Young Scientists from Sprinzl countries eligible for FEBS bursaries must apply for FEBS bursaries through the standard Young Scientist registration category.

Eligibility

To be eligible for the registration fee discount in the FEBS Congress Mathias Sprinzl Scheme, scientists must:

• be a registered PhD student or a PhD holder resident (studying/working) in Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Morocco, Moldova, Tunisia or Ukraine.
• not be eligible for a FEBS Congress bursary 
• be a current member of one of the FEBS Constituent Societies in these countries (Association of Armenian Biochemists, Association of Biochemists and Molecular Biologists in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Association of Georgian Biochemists, Moroccan Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Moldovan Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Tunisian Association of Biological Sciences, Ukrainian Biochemical Society)
• be presenting an abstract at the Congress as first author. Abstracts must be submitted by the Sprinzl scheme deadline of 30 January 2025 and meet the quality standards for the event, as explained on the Call for Abstracts webpage.

How to apply

Via the online registration and abstract submission system, by 30 January 2025:

• select the participant type 'Academic – FEBS Sprinzl' or, only if applicable, 'Young Scientist – FEBS Sprinzl’, and complete your registration order without payment. You will receive an ‘order complete email’ on finishing the application, and payment instructions will be sent later after review of applications, depending on the outcome of your application.
• submit an abstract as first author to one of the Congress research abstract topics (in the 'Posters - Research' track)
• upload the following documents as a single pdf and in this order:
1. proof of current membership of one of the relevant FEBS Constituent Societies for this scheme (scanned copy of current membership certificate/letter, dated within the past year, from your FEBS Constituent Society)
2. proof of currently working as a PhD holder or studying as a registered PhD student in one of the relevant countries
3. age id if selecting 'Young Scientist – FEBS Sprinzl Applicant' or if applying for a Sprinzl travel grant
4. Curriculum Vitae, prepared using the FEBS Congress 2025 Sprinzl CV form.

Acceptance to the Sprinzl scheme

Applicants selected for the scheme will be notified by 21 February 2025, with instructions to proceed with payment at the reduced registration fee by 13 March 2025. Applicants not selected for the scheme will be moved to the normal Academic and Young Scientist registration categories where they can pay the registration fee at standard Congress rates if they would like to proceed with participation in the Congress.

Note that acceptance to the Sprinzl scheme precedes abstract appraisal by the Congress organizers. In the unlikely event that you are accepted to the Sprinzl scheme but your abstract is later not accepted to the event, you will no longer be eligible for the scheme and be asked to continue your Congress participation at the standard Congress registration rate.

Sprinzl travel grants 2025

Note that travel and accommodation expenses are not covered in general by the Sprinzl scheme, which is focused on a reduced registration fee, as set out above. However, there will be a limited number of travel grants of €500 Euro available for mid-career scientists (normally up to 40 years of age at the 13 March 2025 application deadline) who are accepted into the Congress Sprinzl scheme and are not eligible for FEBS bursaries. There is some flexibility on age for certain circumstances (see end of CV template), and the age limit is waived for eligible scientists in or displaced from Ukraine.

To apply for a FEBS Sprinzl travel grant, please tick the relevant box in the first section of the FEBS Congress 2025 Sprinzl CV form and ensure you have included age id with your combined pdf, and submit your application by 30 January 2025.

The selection of applicants for FEBS Sprinzl travel grants will be decided on merit by the FEBS Integration and Networking Committee. Successful applicants will be notified by 21 February and receive details of how to request payment of the travel grant by FEBS, which will be made after confirmed acceptance.

*The Hinari initiative was set up by the World Health Organization and major publishers to enable developing countries to access collections of biomedical and health literature, and is one program within Research4Life. In 2016, FEBS renamed its Congress participation support scheme open to countries eligible for the Hinari program in memory of Mathias Sprinzl, who was Chair of the FEBS Working Group on Integration 2009–2016.

Although Belarus is in the Research4Life list, the Belarusian Society of Biochemists and Molecular Biologists is temporarily suspended from FEBS, so members of this Society are not currently able to apply for support via the Sprinzl scheme.