PROFESSIONAL GRANTS
The Professional Grant provides financial assistance for costs associated with academic and professional development to graduate students
This grant funds professional development opportunities that are not research-oriented, such as certificate programs, professional venues, and workshops. PGSG proudly supports students who strive to gain a competitive edge in the job market through these academic and professional endeavors.
Grants are reviewed and awarded on a monthly basis.
Applications for events involving travel plans must occur at least one (1) month after the submission deadline.
Remaining Deadline & Eligibility periods
February 14th; March 14th – May 20th
March 13th; April 13th- June 17th
April 10th; May 10th -July 15th
Applications should be submitted before expenses occur.
Any application that uses AI must disclose in their application that AI was used to generate the application. Additionally, we only accept applications that are human-generated.
Funding Amount
Exact funding amount will depend on each individual application; however, the maximum is set at $750.
Applicants are required to justify the amount of funding they are requesting, as described in the application instructions and rubric. Allocation decisions are based on the number and quality of applications in a given funding round. Funding is not guaranteed.
Eligible Opportunities
An updated version of Professional Grant policies can be found here.
The Professional grants offer financial support for professional development opportunities that applicants would not otherwise experience at Purdue, in coursework or research. This grant excludes any expenses directly related to and required for your research. Examples of eligible and ineligible expenses are shown below.
Ineligible Expenses
1. Supplies for thesis (e.g., reagents, equipment, etc.)
2. Travel to work on thesis at another site,
such as a collaborator’s lab
3. Training, courses, or workshops required for thesis
4. Workshops or courses that provide techniques
used for thesis work
5. Books for coursework or thesis
6. Conference publication fees.
7. Equipment used required for thesis work.
8. Travel to present work of any kind (thesis, projects, etc.).
9. Restrictions included in the reimbursement procedures.
10. Association fees.
Eligible Expenses
1. Workshops that support professional development and/or career advancement. Workshops may provide training, skill, or knowledge that the applicant would not otherwise be exposed to through thesis work or coursework at Purdue.
2. Networking/professional development events. (it must be explicitly clear how this event is not for research)
3. Career advancement opportunities that applicants would not experience in thesis research or coursework.
4. Training certificates.
5. Internships and externships.
6. Equipment that will be used in career, not for thesis.
7. Journal publication fees (i.e., solo-authored graduate student papers).
8. Poster printing fees.
This grant is designed to help graduate students. Funds will not be given for purchases that should be paid for by advisors (e.g., tuition and fees). If you apply for journal publication and poster printing fees, please have your advisor send an email to the Vice Chair (professionalpgsg@purduegradstudents.com) affirming that the student is the primary intellectual contributor of the journal article, the student would otherwise be responsible for the publication fees (out of pocket), the paper is solo-authored by the graduate student and a justification for the piece’s alignment with that specific journal over other journals.
Applicants are encouraged to email the Vice Chair (professionalpgsg@purduegradstudents.com) before starting an application to assess whether they are within the scope of the Professional Grant.
Before Applying
1. Review Eligibility Requirements
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- Purdue graduate students may only submit one application per semester. However, you can apply for multiple opportunities in the same round ( in the form of multiple applications) as long as the total requested amount sum up to $750 or lower. Each application will be evaluated as a separate independent entity.
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- Purdue graduate students may only receive one award per year (Summer 2023 – Spring 2024).
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- If you choose to forfeit an award, you may not be eligible to apply again until the next semester.
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- Incomplete applications are not eligible for funding, so double-check completion prior to submission.
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- Applicants must use their Purdue email when submitting, failure to do so will result in a ineligible application.
2. Read Reimbursement Policies
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- Applicants should understand the reimbursement procedures and policies here before traveling or making any purchases related to the applicant’s grant application.
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- Proper documentation must be submitted for full reimbursement.
Steps to complete your application
- WRITE APPLICATION ESSAY
Applicants are permitted to apply to more than one qualifying opportunity. However, applicants must submit separate qualifying applications for each opportunity that they are seeking funding for. Both of these applications need to be submitted in the same round for consideration.
For example, if person X applies for licensure and an online course— then person X needs to submit one 450 worded essay prompt #1 for their licensure request and its corresponding budget justification essay prompt #2. This should be followed by a second 450 worded essay prompt #1 for their online course request and its budget justification essay prompt #2.
Essay Prompt #1
In a minimum of 450 words (excluding title), please describe the activity for which this grant is intended to support. This essay will be judged by the ‘Purpose’ and ‘Impact’ criteria of the application rubric. Additionally, please keep in mind that your application will most likely be reviewed by someone outside your field; therefore, applications should be written for someone who might not be familiar with your subject area- not contain jargon.
Essay Prompt #2
In one (1) page or less, please justify the amount of money you are requesting. This essay will be evaluated using criteria related to the ‘Budget” the application rubric. (tables are encouraged)
Essay Rubric
Your essays are the only component of the application that is used for scoring. Professional Grants are competitive and applicants are expected to thoroughly address each criterion. Please pay careful attention to the rubric provided below to ensure the best possible outcome.
Formatting Instructions
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- Each essay must fit on one (1) page using one-inch (1”) margins and size 11 Arial font and be at minimum 450 words, single spaced, and not exceed one page.
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- Professional Grant applications are evaluated by a double-blind review process. Do not include any identifying information, such as:
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- Your name
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- Your advisor’s name
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- Collaborators’ names
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- Professional Grant applications are evaluated by a double-blind review process. Do not include any identifying information, such as:
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- Save both essays as Word documents (.docx) with the following naming schemes:
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- Essay #1: Lastname_Firstname_Purpose_Impact.docx
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- Essay #2: Lastname_Firstname_Budget_Justification.docx
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- Save both essays as Word documents (.docx) with the following naming schemes:
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- Applications that are not formatted correctly, contain identifying information, and do not specify a certain amount or an amount that exceeds $750 will be docked one (1) point for each offense on the final evaluation.
2. SUBMIT YOUR APPLICATION
When you have completed the above steps, submit your application through this online portal:
After Applications
After completing the application, the survey will provide you with a pdf of your responses. It is the applicant’s responsibility to double-check the completion and accuracy of your responses.
Changes to an application may be made by submitting a new application prior to the application date. Should changes be made, please notify the professional grant vice chair so that the most updated application is reviewed.
Vice Chair Office Hours
The Professional Grant vice chair is available by email to answer questions during the academic school year.
Applications are scored out of fifty points; there are ten criteria, each worth five points. Click on the image below for a printable version.
After scoring applications, reviewers recommend one of four funding tiers, as shown below.
TIER 1 This application is excellent and should be fully funded.
TIER 2 This application is good and should receive partial funding.
TIER 3 This application meets the criteria and should receive partial funding.
TIER 4 This is a poor application and should not be funded.