Travel Grants

BEFORE APPLYING

Review Eligibility Requirements

• Applicant must be a full-time Purdue graduate student enrolled at the time of application submission (note: full-time students are those required to pay SOA fees at enrollment).
• Applicant must be presenting research that was conducted at Purdue via an oral presentation, poster, etc. (note: presenting a workshop based on research but not directly discussing research is not an eligible presentation of research)
• Applicant travel dates must fully occur on or between the designated eligibility dates for each submission deadline as stated on the grants deadline page (travel dates start on the date of travel to the conference and end on the date of travel back from the conference).
• Applicant must only submit one application per semester. More than one submission per semester will result in ineligibility.
• Applicant must only receive one travel grant award per fiscal year (Summer [June] – Spring [May]).

Read Reimbursement Policies

• Applicants must understand the reimbursement procedures and policies here before traveling or making any purchases related to the applicant’s grant application.
• Proper documentation as stated in the guidelines must be submitted for full reimbursement.

STEPS TO COMPLETE YOUR APPLICATION

1. WRITE APPLICATION ESSAY

Essay Prompt

In 500 words or less (excluding title), please describe your research and the importance of attending this conference.

• Please keep in mind reviewers will most likely be outside your field of research. Please keep your jargon to a minimum.

Essay Rubric  

Your essay is the only component of the application that is used for scoring. Travel 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. 

Applications are scored out of 50 points. There are 10 criteria, each worth 5 points. Click on the image below for a printable version.

Formatting instructions 

• • Essay must fit on one (1) page, using one inch (1”) margins and size 11 Arial font.
    • • The essay MUST fit in one page, including any references or figures.
      • Applications that are not formatted correctly will be docked 1 point on the final evaluation.

• • Travel Grant applications are evaluated by a double-blind review process. Do not include any identifying information, such as:
    • • Your name
      • Your advisor’s name
      • Collaborators’ names
      • Lastname_Firstname_TravelGrant.docx (Please still use this as the title of your file, but do not include it in the body of your essay)
      • Essays that are not named correctly will be docked 1 point on the final evaluation

2. ASK ADVISOR/MAJOR PROFESSOR TO CONFIRM TRAVEL PLANS

To be eligible for this grant, your professor must confirm they are supporting your attendance to this conference. Please have your professor email us at travelpgsg@gmail.com before the submission deadline with the following information formatted as such:

1. Student name (ex. Purdue Pete)
2. Conference name (ex. Midwinter Meeting for University
   Mascots)
3. Is your student both the first author and presenter of the work
   being presented? (ex. Yes)
4. Funding arrangement between the student and the
   Department? (ex. The student will pay for all expenses not
   covered by the travel grant.)
5. Do you approve of your student’s attendance to the
   conference? (ex. Yes)

3. SUBMIT YOUR APPLICATION

When you have completed the above steps, submit your application through this online portal.