Graduate Student Conference Travel Award

Following GSG General Assembly votes, significant changes have been made to award criteria and application requirements. Please review this page carefully prior to applying for award funds.

• Award Criteria Changes 
• Award Amounts 
• Student Eligibility  
• Conference Eligibility 
• Expense Eligibility 
• Application Process  
• Award Review and Decision Process 
• Payment and Reimbursement Process via the Award

Due to unprecedented demand for conference award funds throughout 2025 and 2026, the GSG General Assembly approved the following award criteria changes, in effect for any application for a conference occurring July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027 (based on the conference start date):

• presenters is reduced to $500 per student, and the award for attendees-only is discontinued. These measures ensure more student presenters will receive travel support.
• Monthly caps will be in place through the funding cycle. Applications will be approved on a first come, first serve basis.

In addition, to ensure compliance with UC travel and reimbursement processing policies, award recipients must submit itemized receipts to the appropriate business or financial administrator within 14 calendar days from the travel return date. Students who fail to meet this deadline may have their award cancelled.

• For Fiscal Year 2027 (July 1, 2026–June 30, 2027), conference presenters may receive up to $500. To be eligible for presenter-level funding, students must be presenting original research either via a paper/poster/art presentation, or a keynote/talk.
• Students attending, but not presenting, at a conference will not be eligible for Conference Travel Award funding for Fiscal Year ‘27.
• Graduate students are eligible to receive up to $500 per fiscal year (ex., July 1, 2026–June 30, 2027) in conference award funding, and this funding may be spread over multiple conferences.
• Please note, the award is subject to the availability of funds. Due to high demand and budget constraints, only a limited number of applications will be approved each month for Fiscal Year ‘27. Awards will be approved on a first come first serve basis. Applications with missing or contradictory information will not be considered and will be returned to the student to correct and resubmit.

• Must be a graduate student enrolled in a UC graduate program (doctoral, master’s, graduate certificate, or artist diploma). Students who are taking graduate courses as an undergraduate student or visiting student are not eligible. 
• Must be an active graduate student. That is, you have registered for at least 1 graduate credit hour in the academic year. 
• Must be enrolled in a UC graduate program as of the start date of the conference. That is, conferences that occur following a student’s graduation date are not eligible for funding (unless the student is enrolled in another graduate program).  
• Must be presenting original research either via a paper/poster/art presentation, or a keynote/talk.  
• Must apply via the Conference Travel Award application in GradTracker at least 15 days prior to the travel departure date to be eligible for award funding; for virtual conferences, students must apply at least 15 days prior to the conference start date to be eligible for award funding. Applications with missing or contradictory information will not be considered and will be returned to the student to correct and resubmit. Resubmissions must be submitted at least 15 days prior to the travel departure date/virtual conference start date to be eligible for funding. 

This award is specifically for research-related academic conferences. It cannot be used for field work, training sessions, career events, networking events, auditions, job interviews, other types of conferences, nor any other type of event.

As part of the application process, the student's graduate program will be required to verify that the conference meets eligibility criteria and that the theme/topic is appropriate for the student’s course of study and professional development.

A program representative will be automatically notified upon the student’s submission of the application and prompted to log in for review. 

All University of Cincinnati students are required to follow university travel requirements as set forth in the UC Student Travel Policy 1.10.2 (PDF). (To view this document, you will need Adobe Acrobat Reader, a free download.) The policy on Travel Expenses, which addresses expense eligibility and reimbursement processing requirements, is available on Bearcats Landing.

The Conference Travel Award funds may be applied towards the following expenses:

• Conference registration (membership fees/dues will not be covered). 
• Lodging (room only – room service or other add-ons will not be covered).
• Flight, for coach/economy seating or equivalent (ticket only – baggage fees, seat selection fees, or seat upgrade fees will not be covered).
• Ground transportation and related expenses. Mileage for a personal vehicle (see 2026 Mileage Reimbursement Rate in Bearcats Landing). The charge for a car rental is limited up to intermediate size or lowest rate classifications for individual travelers; add-ons and insurance fees will not be covered. Other eligible charges include taxi/ride-hailing service, bus, subway, tram, train, gas costs for a rental car, parking fees, and so on. Please note that this award will not reimburse gas for a personal vehicle (per UC policy), however, students may claim mileage reimbursement for personal vehicle travel.  

Award funds may not be used for other expenses. This award will not cover per diem, nor meals/refreshments. If you have questions regarding expense eligibility, please contact Megan Carroll (carrolm2@ucmail.uc.edu). 

Submit the Graduate Student Conference Travel Award application to secure conference funding before you travel! Upon acceptance, you will be notified of the maximum amount of award funding you will receive for the conference. 

Students must apply via the Conference Travel Award application in GradTracker at least 15 days prior to the travel departure date to be eligible for award funding; for virtual conferences, students must apply at least 15 days prior to the conference start date to be eligible for award funding. Nonetheless, it is recommended that students apply as soon as their conference presentation is accepted by the conference organizers; please keep in mind that the budget is intended to be an estimate of anticipated expenses, rather than a log of final costs, so it is not necessary to book travel prior to applying.

To apply, log into GradTracker with your UC credentials. Under the Submit Forms drop-down menu, select the "Graduate Student Conference Travel Award" option.

Upon successful submission, you be CC'd on an email from grad.info@uc.edu, subject: "Conference Travel Award Application Approval requested for student: [Name]." If you do not receive this email within a few minutes of clicking submit, your application did not successfully submit. Log out and log back into GradTracker, and try again to resubmit. If you have any technical issues, please contact Megan Carroll at carrolm2@ucmail.uc.edu.

• The name and email of your primary advisor
• Conference information
  • Conference name
  • Conference website
  • Conference start date*
  • Conference end date*
  • Modality: In-person or virtual conference
  • Conference location (city/state or city/country)
    *Please enter the official start and end date of the conference. You will enter your actual travel dates on the Student Travel Authorization Form. 
• Type of presentation (paper, poster, talk/keynote, or other)
• Title of presentation
• Summary/description of presentation (max 150 words)
• Confirmation of presentation acceptance from conference organizers (upload). 
• Explanation of how this conference will impact your academic and professional development. (max 150 words)
• A completed Student Travel Authorization Form (PDF). (To view this document, you will need Adobe Acrobat Reader, a free download.)
  • Your advisor or an appropriate program representative signs this form under “approved by sponsoring department/organization.” 
  • The TA Form must be signed by the advisor/program representative. Students who do not complete the TA Form and secure the appropriate signature are not eligible for award funds. 
  • The TA Form will only be accepted via the application; do not email to the Graduate College.
  • The TA Form is not required for virtual conferences with no travel.
• Applicants presenting in person must upload a travel budget of all estimated expenses, including those that exceed the award limit amount. Expenses can be partially covered, if the budget exceeds the maximum award amount. (For example, if a round-trip ticket costs $600, then a presenter may receive $500 toward the cost of that flight.) Applicants must use the required budget template (also available via the application form): Presenter Conference Travel Award Budget Template (xlsx)
• The travel budget template form is not required for virtual conferences; instead, a field to enter the cost of the conference registration fee will appear once the virtual conference option is selected.

All applications will go through a three-step workflow. Applications will first be reviewed by the “graduate program coordinator” (i.e., a designated staff member who supports the graduate program). The staff member may either approve the application to move to the program director or return the application for modifications. Either action taken by the staff member will trigger an email notification to the student.

The next step of the workflow is the graduate program director, who will review the application and verify that the applicant is an active student in good academic standing and that the event meets conference eligibility requirements. The graduate program director may either approve the application to move to the Graduate College coordinator or return the application to the student for modifications. Either action taken by the graduate program director will trigger an email notification to the student.

The final step in the workflow is the Graduate College coordinator (currently, Graduate College program director Megan Carroll). At this step, the Graduate College coordinator reviews the application and verifies that all eligibility requirements are met. The Graduate College coordinator may either approve the application for funding, at a specified dollar amount, or return the application to the student for modifications.

Upon award approval, the student is notified via email, with the program staff member and program director CC’d.

Only the student may make changes to the application. When an application is returned to the student for modifications and the student resubmits, the application must once again go through the same workflow (student to graduate program coordinator to graduate program director to Graduate College coordinator). 

This award may be used in one of two ways:

1. Eligible travel expenses are paid for with an employee university purchasing card ("P-card"). These expenses can be charged directly to the award account, up to the maximum amount awarded to the student. Please note that many programs are not able to offer this option to student awardees. Check with your graduate program director or staff member first.
2. The student pays out of pocket and then is reimbursed after travel return. Per university policy, a traveler cannot be reimbursed for out-of-pocket purchases until after they return from their trip (or, in the case of virtual conferences, until after the conference ends).

For any purchases made out-of-pocket for later reimbursement through this award, you will need to provide itemized receipts. That is, receipts should include the following information:

• Date and time of transaction included
• Method of payment indicated (such as last four digits of credit card)
• Specific items purchased listed, including quantities and amounts for each item
• Unit price and total costs (for example, a hotel receipt should include the room charges for each night of stay, plus any taxes and fees broken down) 
• Total amount paid

For Fiscal Year 2027 (July 1, 2026–June 30, 2027), award recipients must submit itemized receipts to the appropriate business or financial administrator within 14 calendar days from the travel return date. Students who fail to meet this deadline may have their award cancelled.

If you have questions regarding receipts, please check with your program's business administrator or financial administrator. It is the student's responsibility to provide itemized receipts in a timely manner to receive reimbursement via this award.

Contact Graduate College program director Megan Carroll (carrolm2@ucmail.uc.edu).