The Friends endeavour to make full use of the available funding for a given year. If funds remain at the end of the year, they may be used to provide financial support for scientific conferences and courses at the BNITM. The funds are primarily intended to cover travel and participation costs for young scientists who are not eligible for Christa Stehling Travel Grants, such as participants from industrialised countries.

Decisions on the support of applications will be made by the VdF Board in meetings taking place in February, June and November. Accordingly, the deadlines for the submission of applications to be decided on are January 15, May 15 and October 15, respectively.