Guidelines

• To learn more, make sure you carefully read all tabbed sections of this page.  Further questions should be directed to undergradresearch@northwestern.edu or 847-467-0499.
• Conference Travel Grants are open to all undergraduate students in good standing.  Students cannot receive funds to attend conferences following graduation from Northwestern.
• Applications will be accepted during the academic year (fall through spring quarters).
• To apply, you will need to provide:
  • an abstract of your paper/poster,
  • proof of your acceptance to the conference,
  • information about the conference’s standing in the field,
  • a budget,
  • and an explanation of how you plan to fund the other 50% of the expenses. 

• Presentations may be at paper or poster sessions at a conference hosted by a recognized scholarly organization.  Your name must appear on the abstract.  Students with creative project will need to explain the standing of the place you will present your work, i.e. Sundance Film Festival.
• While the research may have been group in nature, in order to be eligible for a Conference Travel Grant, you must be the primary presenter, and only one student will be supported for each presentation.  For example, grants may not be used to fund multiple students jointly presenting a poster or for a group performance. 

• To apply, you need a faculty advisor, who will submit an endorsement of your project; however, the advisor is not required to attend the conference or event with you.

• Applications may be submitted at any time and will be reviewed on a rolling basis; however, applications must be submitted before the actual travel takes place.
• Awards are for 50% of the total conference expenses up to a maximum of $500.  You will need to explain where the matching funds will come from, which could include schools, departments, programs, and personal funds.
• Allowable expenses include conference registration fees, hotel, meals (max. $25/day), airfare, and ground transportation (including gas, if personal car is used).
• For hotel expenses, where possible, students are expected to share costs with roommates.
• All grant monies are distributed through the Northwestern Payroll system.  Grant recipients must complete the forms and follow the instructions on the Payroll Forms page in order to receive the grant money.  Additional information about how to process and receive your grant money can be found on the FAQ tab.
• Grant money can not be used to attend conferences in a country subject to a U.S. Department of State Travel Warning (http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/tw/tw_1764.html).  This policy is University-wide and is non-negotiable.  A Travel Warning encompasses the entire country, meaning that even if parts of the country may be considered safe, the entire country remains off-limits.
• You cannot travel to a location that has been rated as high (H) or extreme (E) risk by International SOS.  To check the rating of a country or areas within a country, log in to the International SOS member website using NU's group account number: 11BCAS000003.  Under "Security Tools," select a country to view the Security Report.  Any areas within the country that are rated high or extreme risk are off-limits, but you may still travel to other locations within the country so long as 1) the overall country risk rating is insignificant, low or moderate and 2) the country does not appear on the U.S. State Department Travel Warning List.
• Students whose projects include international travel are required to register with International SOS and to purchase HTH (travel health insurance) prior to departure. 
• When you return from your conference, you will need to submit a one-paragraph summary of your experience to the online system.  This summary can help us learn more about the value of these experiences for undergraduates, and so does not need to be content-related.  You will also be asked to complete a short survey for our assessment purposes.

With our own blogging platform, we are pleased to offer any grant recipient her/his own blog to use during the grant period.  For examples of previous blogs, go to http://blog.undergradresearch.northwestern.edu/.  If you are interested in becoming a part of our blogging world, contact the CTG Coordinator at undergradresearch@northwestern.edu.

Faculty Guidelines

• Conference Travel Grants are open to all undergraduate students in good standing.  Students cannot receive funds to attend conferences following graduation from Northwestern.

• Awards are for 50% of the total conference expenses up to a maximum of $500.  To apply, students will need to provide an abstract of her/his paper/poster, proof of your acceptance to the conference, information about the conference’s standing in the field, a budget, and an explanation of how s/he plans to fund the other 50% of the expenses.  The student’s name must appear on the abstract. 
• While the research may have been group in nature, the student must be the primary presenter to be eligible, and only one student will be supported for each presentation.  For example, grants may not be used to fund multiple students jointly presenting a poster or for a group performance. 

• Advisors are not required to attend the conference or event with the student.
• Students may only receive one Conference Travel Grant while enrolled at Northwestern. 

• Applications may be submitted at any time and will be reviewed on a rolling basis; however, applications must be submitted before the actual travel takes place.
• Grant money can not be used to attend conferences in a country subject to a U.S. Department of State Travel Warning (http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/tw/tw_1764.html).  This policy is University-wide and is non-negotiable.  A Travel Warning encompasses the entire country, meaning that even if parts of the country may be considered safe, the entire country remains off-limits. 
• All applications require an endorsement submitted online.  When the student completes his/her portion of the online application, the system will generate an email to you containing instructions for online submission of your endorsement.
• In your endorsement, please address the following:

1. Please offer your opinion on the student’s project.
2. Please offer your opinion on the quality of the conference itself and the specific opportunity that it affords your student.
3. Please offer your opinions on the student.  How long have you worked with the student, and in what capacity?
4. Do you believe that the budget is appropriate? Do you know of other funding sources for this conference?

• The email you receive will provide a link to the endorsement submission page, where you will find each of these questions followed by separate text fields in which to write your response. Each field has a limit of 4,000 characters, which is equivalent to 11/2 pages single spaced. 
• Faculty endorsements are due as soon as possible after the student submits her/his application and must be received before the actual travel takes place.  Applications cannot be evaluated until the faculty endorsement is received.
• If the advisor would like to see changes to a submitted application, s/he may request those changes within the submission system, generating an email to the student and placing the application back into draft status.  Only the advisor has the capacity to change an application’s status. 
• When they return from the conference, students are asked to submit a brief summary of their experience and complete a short survey for our assessment purposes.  Although you will receive an automatic email prompting you to do so, you do not need to endorse this final report.

Any questions or problems should be directed to undergradresearch@northwestern.edu

How to Apply

All students must apply online.  A complete application consists of an abstract of your paper/poster, proof of your acceptance to the conference, information about the conference’s standing in the field, a budget, and an explanation of how you plan to fund the other 50% of the expenses.  You will need to combine this documentation into one single document that you will upload as your application file.  The file must be uploaded in .doc, .rtf, or .pdf format. When you complete your portion of the application, your faculty advisor will receive an email containing instructions for online submission of her/his endorsement.  You may open an application at any time, save it, and return later to complete/submit it.

Applications will be accepted during the academic year (fall through spring quarters).

APPLY ONLINE

Preparing an Application

Your first step should be to discuss the conference possibility with the faculty member who mentored the project. All conferences are not the same, and gaining a solid understanding of the best place to present your work is a crucial step in the process.  As an additional resource, you may contact the Conference Travel Grant Advisors (undergradresearch@northwestern.edu) to have any questions answered.

Peter Civetta - CTG Coordinator/ Advisor

     847-467-0499     undergradresearch@northwestern.edu

Jana Measells - CTG Advisor

     847-467-0501     uradvisor@northwestern.edu

You do not need to write up a formal proposal for this grant.  There are five simple aspects that must appear in your application. 

1. You will need to include a copy of your presentation abstract.
2. You will need to show proof that your presentation has been accepted.  This proof can consist of an email from the conference organizers or a copy of the conference program, for example.
3. You will need to provide information about the standing of this conference within the field (major, international conference versus small, invited forum, etc.).
4. You will need to include an itemized budget of conference travel expenses.
5. You will need to show how you plan to finance the other 50% of the conference expenses (even if it is coming from personal funds).

Combine this documentation into a single document, and then upload it to the online submission system.  Once completed, the system will automatically contact your advisor for her/his endorsement.  Conference Travel Grants are reviewed on a rolling basis.  Once all of the required documentation is in (including faculty endorsement), you should hear back in 7-10 days.

Faculty Endorsement of Application

All applications require an endorsement by your faculty advisor. The advisor should speak to the quality of the conference and how this event will help your academic career. When you complete your portion of the online application, the system will generate an email to your advisor containing instructions for online submission of the endorsement. 

Upon Your Return

When you return from your conference, you will need to submit a one-paragraph summary of your experience via the online system.  This summary can help us learn more about the value of these experiences for undergraduates, and so does not need to be content-related.  You will also be asked to complete a short survey for our assessment purposes.

FAQs