Conference Travel Grants for Students
Changes to Travel Grants for 2024-2025
The Graduate School’s Conference Travel Grants are designed to encourage and support graduate students’ professional development by making it possible for students to present results of their thesis or dissertation research at important conferences in their fields. Recent trends – including substantial increases in the number of applications received and escalating travel costs – have necessitated changes to the travel grant program to ensure that The Graduate School can continue to meet this important professional development need for our students.
The following changes will be effective for travel beginning July 1, 2024:
- Each graduate student will be limited to two travel grants per lifetime. (formerly: one per year for eligible students)
- A maximum of one travel grant may be awarded to a student pursuing a master’s degree. (formerly: only for students in designated master’s programs)
- Only one of the two lifetime grants may be used for international travel.
- Maximum travel grants will be up to $1,200 for domestic travel and up to $1,700 for international travel. (formerly: up to $1,000 for domestic travel and up to $1,500 for international travel)
- Only one grant per fiscal year (July-June) per student may be awarded. (no change)
- Doctoral students, especially those in later stages of their programs (e.g., post-candidacy), will receive funding priority.
Students who already received travel funding from the Graduate School will still be eligible for two lifetime travel grants beginning FY 2025 (July 1, 2024), provided they meet the other criteria.
Eligibility
Students must be able to demonstrate the following at the time of application:
- Students must be enrolled in a UGA doctoral or master’s program and reporting the results of their dissertation/thesis research as primary author of the publication/presentation/poster.
- Doctoral students must have completed five semesters of full-time graduate studies at UGA at the time of application. (They may include their semesters as a UGA master’s student if they pursued a master’s degree leading up to a doctoral degree objective in the same unit/program.)
- Master’s students must be in their second year of full-time graduate study at the time of application. Semesters of graduate courses completed while student is an undergraduate don’t count toward this requirement.
- Students must be registered for full-time graduate study (see below) during the semesters of both application and travel. Students travelling between semesters must be registered during the semester of application and the semester following travel.
- Full-time enrollment credit hours required: at least three (3) credit hours during Fall, Spring, or Summer semester for doctoral students admitted into candidacy. Master’s students and doctoral students not admitted to candidacy must have nine (9) credit hours during Fall or Spring semesters OR six (6) credit hours during Summer semester.
- Have a GPA of 3.5 or higher in graduate courses.
- Not have any grades of Incomplete (I) or Unsatisfactory (U) at the time of application.
Workshops, training programs, virtual conferences, and other activities (even when the student is invited) are not covered by Graduate School conference travel grants.
The following categories of students are not eligible for Graduate School travel grants: Presidential Fellows, NSF GRFP Fellows on tenure, UGA instructors or full-time employees receiving benefits, Double Dawgs, PharmD, JD, or DVM students.
Application Materials
Students do not apply directly to The Graduate School for travel funding; all travel applications must be submitted by the graduate coordinator or graduate program administrator.
Applications must include the following, demonstrating the eligibility criteria at the time of application:
- City, state/country, conference name, and dates of travel
- An abstract of the presentation/poster that includes the student’s name.
- A travel budget that includes the following categories: meals, lodging, transportation, and other expenses.
- A copy of a current unofficial transcript confirming eligibility (including enrollment requirements for semesters of application and travel).
- Official notification of acceptance from the conference (this is the only document that may be submitted after the application deadline, no later than two weeks before the outgoing travel date or application will be denied).
Departments must verify that the students are eligible and must submit all applications to the Graduate School via GradStatus by the deadline. Students do not have access to these GradStatus forms. Late submissions by departments will not be accepted. Submissions that do not include complete eligibility and application materials (with the exception of conference acceptance letters) will be denied.
Students work with their departments to secure travel authorizations and abide by all UGA, USG, and departmental policies. Students receiving travel grants will be reimbursed after submitting receipts for approved, budgeted expenses to their departments. No student will be reimbursed more than the actual cost of the trip.
Domestic Travel Grants
Applications for travel within the contiguous 48 states are made using the Domestic Travel Grants form. Travel to Alaska, Hawaii, or U.S. territories requires the International Travel Grant application. The amount of the award is up to $1,200 to defray travel expenses.
International Travel Grants
All travel is subject to UGA, USG, and United States travel rules and advisories. Applications for travel to foreign countries and non-contiguous U.S. states and territories such as Hawaii and Alaska must be submitted as International Travel Grants. The amount of the award is up to $1,700 to defray travel expenses.
Rationale/Benefits
These changes will allow the Graduate School to increase the amount per travel grant, making travel more feasible and affordable and encouraging students to focus on the most critical professional development opportunities. Students will no longer have to demonstrate department matching of funds, reducing the financial and administrative burden for both departments and students. Students and departments can expect improved response times and increased likelihood of receiving travel funds.
Travel Dates and Application Deadlines for FY25 (Academic Year 2024-2025)
Funds are awarded on a quarterly basis with a limited amount of funding available each quarter. Here are application deadline dates for the upcoming year:
Travel Dates Application Deadline July 1 – September 30, 2024 June 6, 2024 October 1 – December 31, 2024 September 6, 2024 January 1 – March 31, 2025 December 6, 2024 April 1 – June 30, 2025 March 8, 2025
Conference Travel Grant Questions Document (pdf)
Graduate School Office of Awards, Fellowships, and Scholarships
Contact: gradawards@uga.edu
