Attending international conferences: paying registration fees

An important step that needs to be taken in our journey to attending an international scientific conference is payment of the registration fees in advance. There are two ways of doing this.

(i) These days conferences allow participants to register online by making the payment using a credit card. Obviously in this case you end up paying from your own pocket until you later get it reimbursed from your institute using the receipt provided to you at the conference.

(ii) The second option is to pay the fees through the contingency grant available to you as part of your Senior or Junior Research Fellowship. In this case the fees is sent on your behalf by your institute in the form of a draft made out in the currency of the country you will be visiting. For achieving this feat the following has to be done. Firstly you need to write an application to the Head of your institute asking for permission to use your contingency for the transaction. This application has to be attached with a copy of your invitation letter and the flyer giving the details of the registration fees. Get the application signed first by your division/department's Head and then by the Head of your institute. Remember that once you get the approval keep a copy of the same for later use. Next write a second application mentioning the details of the draft/cheque to be made using the contingency. Attach to this (a) a letter of declaration stating you have enough money in your contingency to pay the entire fees and signed by the Head of your division/department. (b) copy of the first application (c) printout of the flyer displaying the registration fees (d) a Sanction Memo signed by the Head of your division/Research Guide mentioning the amount to be paid (e) a FVC Bill signed by the Administrative Officer and (f) the Foreign Exchange Form A filled in the name of the Head of your institute (that's what I was told since the cheque will be made officially by the institute's bank). Keep the FVC on top of the bunch and submit it in the Finance and Accounts section to the person incharge for making such cheques for research fellows for attending international conferences. A week or so later you will receive a cheque drawn in favour of the conference. Then you post it to the address provided by the organizers. Once they receive your cheque you will get a confirmation of your registration.

Do remember to collect your receipt and letter of participation from the conference organizers once you go to attend it!! You must submit the two on returning from the conference otherwise the cheque that you have made will remain as an outstanding balance in your account. The receipt and the letter are a proof that you did attend the conference. This procedure though long takes care that you don't end up paying money from your own account but rather through the funds available to you.

This is how I have paid my registration fees for a conference (to be held in Sydney) that I am planning to go for in September. So it is a tried and tested recipe which I have put here for others to refer to in the future.