WHO: Practicing Retina Specialists
DEADLINE: Monday, November 3, 2025, by 11:59 PM PT
FUNDING: Discounted registration ($400)
WHAT: Submit a Scientific Surgical Study (standard abstract required – Title, Objective, Methods, Results, Conclusion, 350-word max.), your Craziest Surgical Case (Title, 250-word summary, and 2 minutes (or less) video required), or a Surgical Complication (Title, 250-word summary, and 2 minutes (or less) video required). Specialists may submit to multiple categories, but only one may be selected for presentation.
ATTENDANCE: Presenters must attend the entire meeting, starting on Thursday, April 9, 2026, at 6:00 PM PT, through the meeting on Saturday, April 11, 2026. An all-attendee dinner will follow from 7:00-10:00 PM PT.
WHO: Medical Students, Residents, and Fellows
DEADLINE: Monday, November 3, 2025, by 11:59 PM PT
FUNDING: The top abstracts will be awarded a VBS Academic Grant (covering meeting registration for the 14th Annual Meeting, reimbursement of travel expenses (up to $500), and shared lodging (four nights for fellows and three nights for residents/medical students). The best presenter will be awarded a coveted VBS BUCKLE!
WHAT: Submit an abstract for a Scientific Study (medical or surgical) to be considered for a poster presentation. Only standard abstracts will be accepted (Title, Objective, Methods, Results, Conclusion, 350-word max.). Only one submission is allowed per trainee.
Even if an abstract is not accepted for an Academic Travel Grant, we welcome trainees to present their posters at VBS through the discounted trainee registration.
Applicants must have been involved in the project as a trainee and be a current trainee at the time of the 14th Annual Meeting.
ATTENDANCE: Travel Grant Recipients must attend the entire meeting. Fellows attendance begins Thursday, April 9, 2026, at 8:00 AM PT. Residents and Medical Students attendance begins on Thursday, April 9, 2026, at 6:00 PM PT (though you are invited to attend all day). The meeting continues through Saturday, April 11, 2026. An all-attendee dinner will follow from 7:00-10:00 PM PT.
WHO: Ophthalmology Residents and Medical Students interested in a career in surgical retina who identify as Black or African American, Hispanic or Latinx, American Indian or Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, Southeast Asian (for example Cambodian, Laotian, Vietnamese, Hmong, Filipino) and individuals who identify as LGBTQIA+.
DEADLINE: Monday, November 3, 2025, by 11:59 PM PT
FUNDING: Those who are selected will be awarded a VBS Academic Grant (covering meeting registration for the 14th Annual Meeting, reimbursement of travel expenses (up to $500), and four nights of shared lodging.
WHAT: Submit a brief CV summarizing educational background and an audio statement, no longer than 90-seconds, answering the following questions: What do you hope to gain from the FOCUS program? What is your vision of diversity, equity, and inclusion for the field of retina? How do you identify as underrepresented in medicine?
Applicants must be actively enrolled Medical Students or Ophthalmology Residents at the time of the 14th Annual Meeting.
ATTENDANCE: FOCUS Travel Grant Recipients must attend the entire meeting, starting on Thursday, April 9, 2026, at 8:00 AM PT, through the meeting on Saturday, April 11, 2026. An all-attendee dinner will follow from 7:00-10:00 PM PT.
WHO: Actively practicing female vitreoretinal surgeons outside of the United States, within 10 years of graduation from the final year of fellowship training.
DEADLINE: Wednesday, October 8, 2025, by 11:59 PM PT
FUNDING: Travel grant recipients will receive complimentary meeting registration for the 14th Annual Meeting, reimbursement of travel expenses (up to $1,500), and three nights of shared lodging.
WHAT: Submit a brief CV summarizing educational background and an audio statement, no longer than 90 seconds in English, answering the following questions: What is your interest in retinal surgery? Why do you want to attend the 14th Annual Meeting? What has your clinical and academic experience been thus far as a VR surgeon? What do you hope to learn or gain from participating in the meeting? What do you hope to bring back home to your program, community, and female colleagues?
ATTENDANCE: Travel Grant Recipients must attend the entire meeting, starting on Thursday, April 9, 2026, at 6:00 PM PT, through the meeting on Saturday, April 11, 2026. An all-attendee dinner will follow from 7:00-10:00 PM PT.
WHO: Vitreoretinal Fellows
DEADLINE: Monday, November 3, 2025, by 11:59 PM PT
FUNDING: 20 fellows will be awarded a travel grant (covering meeting registration for the Fellows’ Program and the 14th Annual Meeting, reimbursement of travel expenses (up to $500), and four nights of shared lodging. The top 8 winners will present their surgical videos at the Fellows’ Foray on April 9, 2026, in Las Vegas. Moreover, the CONNECT Network will award the fellow who submits the single best video the prestigious $1,500 CONNECT Network Grant and a limited-edition VBS Belt Buckle.
WHAT: Submit a surgical video of no more than 2 minutes in length. Videos should not have any program or personal identifiers, but they may include a voiceover as long as it does not identify the program or surgeons. Only one submission per trainee is allowed.
Applicants must have been involved in the presented case as a retina fellow and be a retina fellow at the time of the 14th Annual Meeting.
ATTENDANCE: Fellows awarded a travel grant must attend the entire meeting, starting on Thursday, April 9, 2026, at 8:00 AM PT through the meeting on Saturday, April 11, 2026. An all-attendee dinner will follow from 7:00-10:00 PM PT.