Travel Support for Mathematics Graduate Students

Conferences and workshops play an important role in your professional development. You may find that there are more opportunities for you to attend and to present at conferences and workshops in the latter years of your program. Attending an out of state conference can be quite a costly endeavour on a graduate student stipend. The list below is a good place to start your search for travel funds.

Keep in mind that the more sources that you apply to, the better your chances are of being fully funded. Look carefully at the eligibility criteria (this can save you time!), and the required/supporting documentation in each case. Also, be sure to check deadlines and remember to give yourself (and your letter writers) plenty of time to prepare.

Sources of Travel Funds

You should be prepared to apply to many sources to try to secure travel funds. Here are some options to consider. Some sources will only provide "matching funds"; in this case you will need to secure funds from several sources at once.

The conference or workshop organizers may have some funds set aside for graduate student participants. This should be the first place you look for funds.

The Graduate College has a good webpage on travel grants, including information about their Robberson grants. Be sure to keep an eye on the Graduate College page for new programs, deadlines etc. For example, the Robberson deadlines are the 15th of every month (during regular semester).

The Graduate Student Senate may have Research and Conference Grants available. You can ask your student senators about this. Watch for deadlines. For example, the Fall 2008 application window is from October 8, 2008 to November 5, 2008.

The Mathematics Department has some matching funds available for students who are attending conferences. Download and fill out this form in addition to the usual Department pretravel form. You should do this before you embark on a trip. Do not be discouraged by the layout of the form; the Mathematics Department will always try to match funds for students. The form is simply a way of reminding students of the alternate sources from which they should be seeking travel funds.

The College of Arts and Sciences has Student Research and Educational Travel funds. Note that their deadlines are at least 30 days before travel. Note that they also require letters from your Department chair, and evidence that you submit requests to Grad College and to your Department. So you should simply apply to an array of sources all at once, and all well in advance of your travel dates.

Your PhD Advisor may have some matching funds.

Search in funding databases for other possible sources of funding. For example the Community of Science funding page is a good place to start.