Fellowships

Every year the WMS awards fellowships funded by an annual royalty from the official journal of the Society, Neuromuscular Disorders by Elsevier.

We are committed to promoting equitable access to our annual Congress. To support this mission, we offer fellowships to assist members who are early in their careers and those who may face financial barriers to attending the Pre-Congress Teaching Course and/or the Congress in person.

Fellowship categories

First-time WMS Congress attendee (will be verified);
Early career researcher/clinician: applicants should be in an early career phase, training or not yet in a definite established position.

The WMS considers early career researchers and clinicians as typically those who are still studying/training and/or within five years of their last relevant formal training, e.g., five years after being awarded their PhD or becoming specialists in the field.

These typically include students, postdoctoral researchers, clinical trainees, research support staff, and junior allied health researchers.

This five-year limit considers career disruptions, e.g., 12 months of parental leave, making the attendee 5.5 years post PhD, they would still be considered early-career researchers (as they are 4.5 years post-PhD, excluding this disruption).
Travel fellowship for WMS members: WMS members who would like to attend the annual Congress but find the registration fee and associated costs a barrier to in-person attendance; or
Senior fellowship: these fellowships are for senior myologists who have been active in the WMS in the past but are now retired and have constraints on their available funds.

Depending upon the geographical location of the attendee in relation to the Congress venue, all types of fellowships will be awarded as either:

Continental (to the event location) up to £1,000.
Please note that if you submit a claim for more than £1,000 a maximum of £1,000 will be reimbursed.
Intercontinental (to the event location) up to £2,000.
Please note that if you submit a claim for more than £2,000 a maximum of £2,000 will be reimbursed.

Award of fellowships

All fellowships are awarded to help in-person attendees with the cost of:

Pre-Congress Teaching Course and/or Congress registration tickets (in-person attendance will be verified)
economy class air and/or rail fares
taxis and trains to and from the airport/train station (if required)
parking at the airport/train station (if required)
successful VISA application fees (if required)
single occupancy accommodation costs (please see notes below)

Anything that is not specified in the above list will not be reimbursed as part of the claim, and is therefore the responsibility of the claimant to pay for themselves, please see further details on exclusions below:

For compliance reasons, it is not possible to claim for the Congress social and networking activities;
The cost of WMS Membership is not claimable, however students and colleagues from low and medium-income countries are encouraged to apply for a membership grant, if the membership fee is a barrier to joining the WMS;
Claiming for accommodation costs:
- If you are attending the Pre-Congress Teaching Course, accommodation costs for only Sunday and Monday nights will be covered;
- If you are attending the Congress, only accommodation costs for the Tuesday to Saturday nights will be covered;
- If you are attending the Pre-Congress Teaching Course and the Congress, then accommodation costs for the Sunday to Saturday nights will be covered;
- The attendee is responsible for the cost of any additional nights; and
- It is not necessary to book the hotel through the WMS booking site to claim.
Mileage to/from the Congress venue/airport/train station will not be reimbursed; and
Fellowship awardees are responsible for ensuring that a suitable travel insurance policy is in place to cover any changes to travel plans. If a visa application is required for travel, the awardee is responsible for purchasing a flexible or refundable ticket in case the visa is denied or delayed. If the insurance policy is required for the visa application process, this cost can be claimed with a copy of the valid receipt, provided it is only a policy for the WMS Congress dates and not a general policy.

Application process

This year, we have updated the fellowship process to make it easier for delegates to apply and manage their registration. If you would like to apply for a fellowship for WMS 2025, you can do so using the link in your abstract notification email. This change prevents people from applying earlier in the registration process and changing their registration type once they receive their abstract notification, significantly impacting the programme planning process.

Those who wish to apply for a senior fellowship, who have not submitted an abstract and can therefore apply using the process above, please email a paragraph (100 words maximum) to explain how the WMS fellowship and attending the WMS Congress this year would benefit and develop their role in the field of neuromuscular disorders and help them to engage with the broader WMS community and a biography (100 words maximum) to [email protected]. There is no official deadline for senior fellowships.

Your abstract will only be considered for virtual or in person presentation types in line with your registration type. Anyone submitting an abstract associated with a virtual registration will not be considered for an oral or short oral presentation and will not be offered the opportunity to apply for a fellowship. Delegates who decide to swap to an in-person registration once the fellowship application deadline has passed will not be eligible to apply at that point, unless they are submitting late breaking news and have updated to in person attendance before their submission.

See the Dates for the fellowship application deadline and outcome notifications date information.

Application considerations

All applicants must be current WMS members during the registration process, at the time of abstract submission and during the Congress dates. They must provide a paragraph (100 words maximum) as part of their application to explain how the WMS fellowship and attending the WMS Congress this year would benefit and develop their career in the field of neuromuscular disorders and help them to engage with the broader WMS community and a biography (100 words maximum).
Fellowship applications will reopen temporarily for late-breaking abstract submissions. The outcome of the application will be communicated at the time of abstract notification.
The WMS will only reimburse expense claims to the awardee personally and not to another individual or institution/organisation or in kind for hotel accommodation etc. If the applicant is unable to accept the payment due to their organisation’s rules, then an application should not be made to begin with.
Only one fellowship per person will be paid, even if several applications are received.

Submission of expense claims

Please complete and sign the WMS fellowship expense claim form and return it in PDF format with a scan of the relevant receipts to [email protected] by the deadline. Claims received after this date may not be accepted or processed. Please do not send more than one claim form per awardee and do not submit the claim form before the Congress has taken place.

Please use the fellowship expense claim instructions to help you with how to submit your claim correctly and kindly note the important information below:

An expense claim form must be electronically completed and signed by the successful applicant with their bank details and valid receipts attached as appropriate. Handwritten claim forms will not be accepted;
Please do not submit bills or receipts that are not made out/addressed to the claimant as we are unable to process these. The only exception to this is taxi receipts;
Receipts must show proof of payment of the actual amount being claimed, booking confirmations without this information will not be accepted;
The whole claim must only be in one currency. If the claim involves different currencies, please use the amount that left your bank account when you purchased the item, then quote that amount and the exchange rate on the bank transaction in the claim. The amount reimbursed will be the total value of your eligible submitted receipts, up to the maximum value of your fellowship;
Please check that the amounts being claimed add up correctly, incorrectly calculated claim forms will be returned to the claimant for correction which may result in delays in processing payment;
Please make sure you have provided the correct bank details for the reimbursement and there is an IBAN and BIC/Swift number for international payments. UK payments will need a sort code and account number. Payments to the US often require additional details for the payment to be processed through an intermediary bank successfully. You can ask your bank to provide you with this detail and must include it in your claim form;
Electronic payment will be processed post-Congress, within one month of receiving a valid expense claim form. It is not possible to make payment by cheque; and
Any claim form received that is not completed correctly, will be returned to the claimant to be corrected which may result in delays in processing payment.

Responsibilities:

WMS members receiving the fellowship award are expected to:

Write and submit a post-attendance report (maximum 500 words), or record a video on their own device, to describe the impact the WMS fellowship had on their learnings and experiences at the Congress and how these have and will continue to influence their ongoing career development. Please email your report to the WMS Communications Manager by 11^th December 2025
Contribute to and engage with any of the WMS Committees (e.g. prepare a Featured Case, Publication Highlight or a Myology Developments Around the World interview). Our committees are passionate and enthusiastic groups who are always seeking more members to help bring new ideas and share responsibilities. If you are interested in joining any of them please contact Sadie Tyler-Sibbald, the WMS Association Support Manager for more information.
Follow and engage with the WMS on our social media channels (use the links at the bottom of this page).