ACU Early Career Conference Grants 2026/27

The Association of Commonwealth Universities pays for early-career academics to travel and present at a conference in another Commonwealth country — the kind of trip that is usually the first thing a department budget cuts.

What it covers. Seven grants of up to £2,000 each: conference registration, flights, accommodation, visa costs and travel or health insurance.

Who can apply. Researchers employed at an ACU member university who are within seven years of the start of their academic career (career breaks do not count towards the seven years). You must not have worked outside your employment region before, and must not have received this grant previously.

Cameroon universities are ACU members, so this is one of the few calls on this board where a Cameroonian academic is squarely inside the eligible group. Check your institution against the ACU member list first.

The conference. It has to be in a Commonwealth country outside your work region, take place between January 2027 and January 2028, and you must be chairing a session, presenting a paper, or presenting a poster — attending alone does not qualify.

Deadline. 13 October 2026 at 15:00 UTC — 16:00 in Cameroon. Apply through your MyACU account at crm.acu.ac.uk; register first if you are new, because that takes a day or two.

Get the conference acceptance in hand before the deadline. That is the piece applicants most often leave too late.