Grant/Funding question: "Expected Benefits and Outcomes for attending the conference"? I have acceptance for a conference in my field (Telecommunication and networking), and now I am applying for a conference travel grant to attend this conference. Can I please have an idea what should I respond to the following question?

What are your the expected benefits and outcomes of attending this conference?

I know that this conference is a major conference and it will earn me a good reputation, but the funding agency will not be interested in any of my personal gains and they will be concerned with their own benefits (in this case, providing internet connectivity to this country).

Any idea to respond so that I can convince the reviewers of the application that I am worthy to get this fund?
Depending on the funding agency, I'm not so sure that I would immediately discount the personal gains that your attendance would offer you.  However, I suspect that you might find this prompt easier if you start to think about the overall gains and extended effects that this might offer to both you and your institution/group.


Allow you to build connections with researchers at other institutions. You can also expand this in terms of types of institutions (academic, governmental, corporate) and locations of institutions (is this a regional conference, does it draw from around the world)
Allow you to identify potential collaborators for multi-institutional work
Allow you to learn about the current research in this field
Allow you to bring back information about the current research to your organization. Depending on the grant sponsor, you may want to explain how you will be distributing that information (presentation to the department, lunch talk with a research group, etc.)
Boost the reputation and visibility of your organization with the greater community
If your department is hiring faculty and the grant is funded by your university, you might be able to distribute information about the job search
If you know what the presentations are going to be on, then you can also be specific. E.g., "Meet with Professor YYY and discuss her work on field XXX", "Learn about the latest in VOIP infrastructure rollouts".
Identify potential collaborators for internet connectivity rollout in your country