Conference: International Congress for Neuroethology 2026 - Travel Support Grant

This project will support U.S.-based students, postdoctoral researchers, and early-career faculty in attending a major international scientific meeting focused on how brains generate behavior. The 16th International Congress of Neuroethology (ICN), to be held in Vancouver, Canada in July 2026, will bring together researchers from around the world who study how animals sense, communicate, navigate, learn, and interact with their environments. Scientists at the meeting investigate a wide range of organisms—from insects and birds to mammals and marine animals—to better understand how nervous systems work. Because the conference will be held in North America, it provides an unusual opportunity for U.S. trainees and junior scientists to participate in an international research community. NSF travel support will reduce financial barriers for participants with limited resources. The meeting will provide opportunities for mentoring, networking, professional development, and scientific exchange, helping early-career researchers build collaborations and develop skills that contribute to the future scientific workforce. This project advances NSF’s priorities in Biotechnology and Artificial Intelligence. The ICN is the premier international meeting in neuroethology, an interdisciplinary field focused on understanding the neural mechanisms underlying natural behavior across diverse species. The scientific program will provide a comprehensive view of current advances in the field through plenary and keynote lectures, invited and participant-organized symposia, contributed talks, and poster sessions. Topics span multiple levels of analysis, from molecular and cellular mechanisms to neural circuits, behavior, and evolution, and integrate approaches from neuroscience, biology, physics, engineering, and computational science. A central theme of ICN 2026 is the convergence of traditional neuroethological model systems, such as bats, songbirds, and cephalopods, with established laboratory and genetic systems including rodents and Drosophila. The meeting will also highlight emerging research areas including multimodal sensory processing, decision-making, navigation, and social communication. NSF funds will support competitively awarded travel grants for U.S. participants with demonstrated need, including trainees, junior faculty, and selected speakers, thereby promoting interdisciplinary exchange and collaboration within the international neuroethology community. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria. NSF Award ID: 2623946 | Program: 01002627DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT | Principal Investigator: Michael Dickinson | Institution: California Institute of Technology, PASADENA, CA | Award Amount: $20,000 View on NSF Award Search: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/show-award/?AWD_ID=2623946 View on Research.gov: https://www.research.gov/awardapi-service/v1/awards/2623946.html