To mark its Centenary, the ACU committed to awarding a total of 100 Early Career Academic Grants to staff at ACU member universities to cover the costs of travel to and attendance at relevant conferences or academic meetings in another Commonwealth country. The scheme is aimed at early career academics who have not yet had the opportunity to work, study, or travel outside their own country.

Terms and conditions

- Applicants will have discretion over what the grant is used for, but it must involve a visit to academic peers in a Commonwealth country outside their home region. In most cases, this will involve attendance at a recognised academic conference in their discipline. Potential hosts should be either an ACU member university in the country to be visited, or the organiser of a recognised academic conference.
- Travel and other expenditure under the grant must take place between June and December in the year of the award.
- Grants can be used to cover travel costs, conference fees, accommodation and subsistence, and, where appropriate, small-scale purchases of materials for use in future teaching or research.
- Each Early Career Academic Grant will be up to GBP 2,000 in value.
- Under no circumstances will the total value of the grant exceed that stated on the offer letter.
- Grants will be paid in a single instalment to either the grant holder’s home institution, a host institution in the country to be visited (provided that the institution is an ACU member), or a named conference organiser. Successful applicants will be asked to nominate a recipient of funds.
- Grant holders will be asked to provide an account of expenditure and a brief report (no more than 500 words) on how their grant has been spent.
- The ACU reserves the right to publish the names of successful applicants on the ACU website and in ACU publications. By applying for a grant, the applicant gives consent for such publication in the event that his/her application is successful.