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 research work at the event. For an explanation of Hinari countries for the FEBS Congress 2026 (50th FEBS Congress) see the page footnote*.
For the 50th FEBS Congress the fees for ‘Academic’ and ‘Young Scientist’ categories of participants in the Sprinzl scheme are reduced to € 345 for Academic and € 187.50 for Young Scientists. For definitions of Academic and Young Scientist, see the Registration page.
Interested in applying? Please read the following guidelines carefully.
The application deadline is 13 February 2026. 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 FEBS Congress 2026, 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.
Eligibility
To be eligible for the registration fee discount in the FEBS Congress Mathias Sprinzl Scheme, scientists must:
- be 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 a research abstract at the Congress as first author
How to Apply
Enter the event’s abstract submission system to submit your research abstract and apply to the scheme
After the section on abstract presentation, answer yes to the question in the abstract submission form asking about applying for support via the FEBS Congress Mathias Sprinzl scheme
upload the following documents as a single pdf and in this order:
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)
proof of currently working as a PhD holder in one of the relevant countries
age id if intending to pay the young scientist registration rate or if applying for a Sprinzl travel grant
Curriculum Vitae, prepared using the FEBS Congress 2026 Sprinzl CV form
Acceptance to the Sprinzl Scheme
Applicants selected for the scheme will be notified by early April 2026, with instructions to proceed with payment at the reduced registration fee by 14 April 2025. Applicants not selected for the scheme will be able to pay the registration fee at standard Congress rates if they would like to proceed with participation in the Congress.
Sprinzl Travel Grants 2026
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 €450 Euro available for mid-career scientists (normally up to 40 years of age at the 13 February 2026 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 2026 Sprinzl CV form and ensure you have included age id with your combined pdf, and submit your application by 13 February 2026.
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 in early April 2026 and receive details of how to request payment of the travel grant by FEBS, which will be made after confirmed attendance.
*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.
