Travel Grants to AHA Scientific Meetings

Awards applicants must be members of the American Heart Association (AHA) sponsoring scientific council at the time of application. If you need to become an AHA Professional Member, you should do so one week prior to the application submission deadline for your member account to be processed in time for the application submission deadline. Learn more about AHA Professional Membership.

AHA Scientific Council Travel Grants recognize promising and outstanding investigators in the early stages of their careers and provide travel assistance for graduate-level or medical students, trainees and early career investigators to participate in AHA scientific meetings. Applicants must still be in training as an undergraduate or pre-doctoral student, or be within 10 years of completing medical fellowship (or residency as NIH states, MDs would be Fellows for 3–6 years of the 7–10), terminal degree or highest certificate (e.g., BSc, MSc).

Travel Grants are designed to recognize endeavors by early career investigators in research activities and to encourage continued research careers. These grants must also comply with the rules and guidelines developed by the Committee on Scientific Sessions Program if held in conjunction with the Scientific Sessions or Specialty Meetings.

Applicants must submit their abstract for Scientific Sessions by the abstract submission deadline to be eligible for abstract related awards.

Eligibility Criteria

• All recipients of travel grants sponsored by an AHA scientific council must be a member of the AHA at the time of application. If you need to become an AHA Professional Member, you should do so no later than one week prior to the submission deadline for your member account to be processed. Learn more about AHA Professional Membership.
• Winners are not eligible to receive funding for the same grant in subsequent years.
• Candidates may apply for more than one travel grant; however, an applicant is eligible to receive only one travel grant per meeting per year.
• Only one manuscript and abstract per candidate will be considered for awards. The manuscript may have co-authors, but the applicant must be the first and presenting author. The presenting author of an accepted abstract must be registered for the Scientific Meeting.
• Each recipient of AHA council-sponsored awards, regardless of grant category, is eligible to receive only one council-sponsored award each year per AHA scientific meeting. (For example, an Early Career Investigator Award finalist will not be eligible to receive a travel grant for the same meeting.)

Evaluation Criteria

Selection of the awardees for travel grants can be based on scientific excellence (score of an abstract submitted to a Scientific Meeting), curriculum vitae, letters of recommendation, or a combination of these.

How to Apply

All applicants for awards associated with the AHA Scientific Sessions in November must submit applications through the Council Awards Application System. 

Please see the individual award information pages below for specific documents required when submitting an application file. Awards requiring an abstract must be submitted to an AHA Scientific Meeting before the online submission site abstract deadline. Your abstract control number will be needed on the award application form.

A username and password set up through online registration at Professional Heart Daily will be necessary to access the AHA's online abstract submission site and the Council Awards & Fellowships Application System. AHA Professional Members who are creating an online profile for the first time should make sure to register using their AHA member identification number.