Travel Bursaries for the OIPA Symposium 2026

Travel Bursaries for the OIPA Symposium 2026

OIPA is pleased to offer a limited number of travel bursaries to support early career professionals working in open access, scholarly communications, and researcher‑facing publishing roles to attend the OIPA Symposium 2026, on Thursday 18^th of June. These sponsored places are designed to widen participation, reduce financial barriers, and strengthen the community of practitioners shaping the future of open access.

Who the bursaries are for

The bursaries are intended for individuals who:

• Work within open access, scholarly communications, or publishing support, including roles that directly assist researchers at their institution
• Self‑identify as early career, typically within their first ten years in the sector and not in a senior role
• Can write a short reflective blog post for OIPAs website or LinkedIn post after the symposium, sharing insights from the event with the wider community

What the bursary covers

The bursary will cover basic travel costs to/from the Symposium, which is hosted in-person at the Attenborough Centre for the Creative Arts, University of Sussex.

Approved travel will be arranged in standard class with colleagues at the University of Sussex.

Full details will be provided to successful applicants.

How to apply

To apply for one of the sponsored places, please submit your details via the MS Form here: Bursary Application Form.

Prioritisation

To ensure the bursaries support those who will benefit most, applications will be prioritised in the following order:

1. OIPA members
2. Early career professionals (ECRs) meeting the definition above

If funding remains after these groups have been supported, additional bursaries may be offered to applicants working in:

• Universities or research institutions
• Non‑profit publishing organisations
• Open access–focused non‑profits

Commercial sector applicants

To keep the focus on community‑based and mission‑driven work, applicants employed by commercial publishers, vendors, or other for‑profit organisations will only be considered if funding remains after priority groups have been supported.

Why we’re offering these bursaries

OIPA is committed to supporting the next generation of open access and scholarly communications professionals. By reducing financial barriers, we hope to enable wider participation, amplify diverse voices, and strengthen the networks that underpin a healthy, equitable publishing ecosystem.

If you have any questions about the bursaries or the application process, please get in touch with the OIPA team at  oipa.contact@gmail.com.