Travel Grants

Overview

Travel grants are provided through a joint effort of the Computer Science Graduate Student Association and the Department of Computer Science. The spirit of the GSA Travel Grant is intended to increase the graduate student body's opportunities to present their work and promote graduate research by providing limited financial support for graduate student presenting their research at academic conferences when their academic advisor is unable to provide funding. Grants usually capped at $2500 varying based on several criteria, including the demonstrated need and the quality of the application. The program is currently sponsored by the Corporate partners program of the Department of Computer Science. This fund is limited and and therefore it is expected that students pursue all other available funding opportunities too.

Eligibility

  1. The work must have been performed while a member of the Department of Computer Science.
  2. The student must be the presenter of the paper.
  3. The student must be a degree seeking graduate student in the Department of Computer Science.
  4. The student's academic advisor must not have funds to support the travel (confirmed by the CS Business Office and the advisor).
  5. It must be the case that no other author is presenting the same paper at the conference.
  6. The student can only be awarded the GSA travel grant at most once within an academic year.

Evaluation Process

The number of the grants issued depends on the availability of the funds.
Evaluation criteria
  1. Quality of the conference
  2. Quality of the paper
  3. Conference acceptance rate
  4. Student's record
Note: There is no consideration of domestic versus international conferences.
Evaluation steps
  1. All applications will be evaluated by a committee consisting of two students and two faculty members. The faculty advisor of the GSA is the chair of the evaluation committee.
  2. The committee's decision will be passed to the Department Head for final approval.

Application Process

Each application needs to include the following items:
  1. Completed Application Form
  2. A nomination letter from the advisor stating:
    1. Does he/she have travel funds for this student for this trip? If not, explain why not.
    2. Who will pay the remaining amount of the total travel cost
    3. Does he/she approve of this paper and travel, even though can’t financially support it?
    4. If he/she is aware of the conference, is it a reputable conference? Explain it if you’d like.
    5. Is he/she aware of other funding the student is receiving?
    6. Other reasons for support of this travel grant application (e.g., the work is part of the student’s dissertation)
  3. Call for participation for the conference that includes the members of the program committee
  4. Acceptance letter from the program chair with paper reviews
  5. The paper itself
  6. Applicant's vita or resume
Submission: Please fill the Online Google Form and if you have any questions Please e-mail the GSA Travel Grant Coordinator (see officers page), with the subject line "GSA Travel Grant Application".

GSA Travel Grant Application (Online Form)

Deadline and Notification

This program has an open deadline.

However, applications should preferably be received within three weeks of the paper's acceptance and definitely before the actual travel.

You should be contacted within 3 days of submission by the GSA Travel Grant Coordinator confirming the receipt of the application. If not, please contact (him/her) via e-mail (see officers page).

The applications should be evaluated during a period of about two weeks to four weeks, and all applicants will be notified at the end of that period. However, depending on the time of year or scheduling conflicts, the evaluation of an application may take longer.

Other sources of funding

The following organizations offer travel grants:
  1. Purdue Graduate Student Government (PGSG) offers travel grants each semester.
  2. A number of conferences offer student travel grants and give preference to authors of accepted papers.
  3. For security-related research, Center for Education in Information Assurance and Security (CERIAS) offers student travel support.
  4. The Women in Science Program (WISP).
  5. Fellowships might have funds for student travel.
  6. More organizations that offer travel grants can be found HERE.