funding: Up to $1,500 travel grant
location: Denver, Colorado, USA
eligibility: Students and early-career communication researchers
host: International Communication Association
duration: Conference week (May 2026)
apply-url: https://www.icahdq.org/
The International Council on Archives (ICA) is the global professional association for archivists and records managers. Each year, its New Professionals Travel Grant programme supports early-career archival professionals to attend ICA events, enabling them to participate in international professional development, connect with peers worldwide, and contribute to the global archives community.
What You Get
The ICA provides 5 to 10 travel grants annually to new professionals. Grants cover travel costs (flights and accommodation) to attend a designated ICA event in 2026. Recipients are also invited to participate in New Professionals sessions — special workshops, mentoring activities, and networking events designed specifically for those in the early stages of their archival careers.
Who Is a "New Professional"
ICA defines a new professional as someone who graduated from an archival education programme within the past seven years, or who has been working professionally in archives or records management for fewer than seven years. This includes recent graduates of information science, library science, history, and archival studies programmes, as well as those who have transitioned into archival work from related fields.
Eligibility
Applicants must be current members of an ICA-affiliated national or regional association, or individual members of ICA. They must demonstrate that attending the designated event would provide significant professional development benefit and that they would face financial hardship in attending without the grant. Preference is given to applicants from developing countries and from regions underrepresented in ICA leadership.
How to Apply
Applications are submitted through the ICA website at ica.org. A complete application includes a personal statement explaining your professional goals and how attending the ICA event will support them, a description of any paper or workshop you will present, a CV, and a letter of support from your employer or professional association. Check ica.org for the current application deadline for 2026 grants.
The Value of ICA Membership and Participation
Archives are increasingly central to governance, accountability, cultural heritage, and the management of digital information at scale. ICA events bring together professionals shaping how archives operate in the digital age — from AI-assisted description and born-digital preservation to freedom of information policy. For a new professional, attending an ICA event is a career accelerant that shortens the learning curve by years.