During the course of 2011, each Faculty within F1000 built up a fund related to the number of evaluations published throughout the year. For every evaluation published, F1000 added $1 to the Travel Grant Fund. All Associate Faculty Members (AFMs) who submitted six or more evaluations in 2011, which were then published, were eligible to apply for a Travel Grant.
The first winners of the fund have now each been awarded $250 grants to put toward the costs involved in attending scientific conferences. A total of 74 Travel Grants have been awarded: visit the F1000 website to see the list of awardees http://f1000.com/travelgrants.
In total, 14,906 evaluations were published in 2011, with the highest number of evaluations coming from the Faculties of Cell Biology, Immunology, Neuroscience, and Anaesthesiology & Pain Management.
From 2012, the number of Travel Grants available will be awarded to those eligible AFMs who submit the most noteworthy evaluations. The judges for awarding the Travel Grants will be the Editorial Directors for Biology and Medicine.
Commenting on the Travel Grant Scheme, Sarah Greene, Editor-in-Chief at F1000 said: "We know how important mentoring junior researchers has been to our Faculty Members, in terms of assessing their peers' research and thinking critically about work in their own labs. We hope this fund will prove further incentive to our Associate Faculty Members and help to strengthen coverage of the F1000 service."
To find out more about Faculty of 1000, please contact Eleanor Howell on +44 (0)20 7631 9129 or email press@f1000.com. For more information, visit http://f1000.com.