Graduate Student Travel and Research Award

Award Types

• Travel Award: Funds travel and/or registration expenses to attend and present a poster/paper as first-author at a conference or workshop.
  • Attendance may be in-person or virtual
  • The fiscal year of the award will follow the dates of the conference (e.g., a FY25 award will be given for a conference that takes place 7/1/24 - 7/3/24).
• Research Award: Funds materials and resources needed to successfully complete the applied project.
  • Materials and resources may include:
    • Subject payments
    • Specialized equipment or software, other supplies
    • Training or workshop (needed to successfully complete project)

Award Amount

• FY 25 (July 1, 2024 - June 30, 2025) - Up to $800 per student
• FY 26 (July 1, 2025 - June 30, 2026) - Award amount to be determined

How to Apply

To apply, submit an application via the online form.

Guidelines

• Students may apply for a travel award, research award, or both within a fiscal year (July 1 - June 30).
• Students who apply/request support in summer, or for any other semester in which they are not registered for a credit/tuition-bearing course, should review the Award Disbursement section.
  • Up to two applications may be submitted per fiscal year.
    • Separate applications must be submitted for each award type (i.e., travel, research) or conference. Applications may be submitted at separate times within the fiscal year.
    • Students presenting virtually (versus in person) may be eligible for an exception to the application limit due to lower expenses.
  • The maximum amount of funds applied for in a fiscal year may not exceed the total annual limit. For example, if the total annual limit is $800 and a request is submitted for $600, the maximum amount of a second request within the same fiscal year is $200. 

Required Application Materials

Applicants will be asked within the online application form to upload a single pdf containing the following application materials.

• Budget
  • List each expense and its estimated cost (i.e., show how you would spend the award amount).
  • All expenses must be in accordance with the University’s Business Expenses policy. Please contact Psychology Finance if you have questions.
• Abstract
• Notification from the conference showing the presentation was accepted
• Faculty advisor approval
  • Include a copy of an email from them that shows they gave you their approval to submit an application for this award. The approval should be brief; it simply takes the place of an approval signature.

• Travel Award: No later than 2 weeks prior to the first date of travel
• Research Award: Prior to purchases being made/expenses being incurred

•  Student Account Deposit
  • This is the default/preferred payout method.
  • For a research award, this payout option is available for the following expenses: subject payments (if paying subjects via digital gift cards, survey services such as MTurk or Prolific, or cash), training/workshop registration, and project materials.
  • Students must be enrolled in at least one credit/tuition-bearing course at the time of funds disbursement to be eligible. (GRAD 999 is not credit/tuition-bearing.)
  • Students may apply for a travel award in a semester they are not registered for credit (e.g., summer), if they will be registered for credit in the following semester, with the understanding they will receive their funds in the semester they are registered for credit.
  • If a student is registered in summer for CLA 8000 - to be eligible for summer payout of a fellowship - they are eligible for a student account payout in summer of a travel award.
  • Federal aid policies require students to be enrolled in a credit/tuition-bearing course to receive aid. Students are therefore strongly encouraged to proactively request anticipated summer support during the spring semester to ensure their requests can be fulfilled before a student incurs travel or research costs. Note that this represents a change in procedure effective Summer 2024, as GRD 4999 registration has been discontinued by UMN in compliance with updated federal aid disbursement policies.
  • The deadlines for requesting awards for disbursement in a semester with credit-bearing enrollment are as follows:
    • Fall semester: November 1 (applicable for students who will be on GRAD 999 in spring)
    • Spring semester: April 1
  • Balances due on student accounts will be deducted from the award, financial aid may be adjusted as a result of the award, and the award may be subject to taxable income.
     
• Account String
  • Faculty PCard
    • Students may request on their application to have expenses paid directly by a faculty member using a PCard (UMN credit card).
    • For a research award, this payout option is available for the following expense: subject payments (if paying subjects via digital gift cards or survey services such as MTurk or Prolific).
    • The Travel and Research Award account string will be provided to the student in their award notice, to be used by the faculty member when reconciling their PCard charges with Psychology Finance.
  • ClinCards, Digital Gift Cards
    • The Travel and Research Award account string may be used by the award recipient when setting up a plan to pay subjects. The Subject Payments page outlines the approved payment methods. 
       
• Check
  • If a student is not registered for credit and will not be in the future, they may request on their application to he paid out via mailed check.
  • For a research award, this payout option is available for the following expenses: subject payments (if paying subjects via digital gift cards or survey services such as MTurk or Prolific), training/workshop registration, and project materials.

Contact Heidi Wolff (hwolff@umn.edu), Curriculum and Graduate Services Specialist.