GPSC Travel Grants

GPSC awards grants for UA graduate and professional student travel for professional development purposes. Students may submit one application per round and can receive a maximum of one Travel Grant per academic year. 

Applications for domestic travel may receive up to $1,000.00. Applications for international travel may receive up to $1,500.00. Domestic travel includes the 50 U.S. states, and international travel constitutes travel to any destination(s) outside the United States or to U.S. territories.

Event types covered by the grant include but are not limited to:

• Travel to attend/present at academic or professional conferences
• Travel to conduct fieldwork or research
• Travel to participate in summer schools or workshops
• Travel to participate in practicums, internships, or other types of experiential learning
• Travel for a job interview or campus visit
• Travel for study abroad or international study

Grant Proposal Application:

Your application should include a travel narrative, a budget worksheet, and a faculty letter of support. Please do not include your name in the travel narrative or budget to preserve the standards of double-blind reviewing.

Before beginning the application, applicants should save their text and responses on a separate document (Word or Google doc) in case an error occurs to ensure nothing is lost.  If an error does occur, please get in touch with the Submittable Technical Support team at support@submittable.com as soon as possible.

Group Travel Application:

Students who wish to apply to the GPSC Travel Grant Program as a group can submit a single application if all students will be traveling/attending the same event (or other reasons for travel). Group travel is limited to 5 students per application and may include one undergraduate student. However, the Primary Applicant must be a graduate or Professional student.

Applications for domestic travel may receive up to $1,000.00 x Number of students applying. Applications for international travel may receive up to $1,500.00 x Number of students applying. No partial funding will be allowed. One faculty support letter will be allowed and must state the number of students traveling together.

Applicants who apply to the GPSC Travel Grant program as a group will be asked to submit a proposal narrative of no more than 1500 words that should additionally include the following:

A clear, concise, and jargon-free description of the event (or other reason for travel), including what each individual within the group intends to do there, why the named location is the best venue for the activity, and why the travel is relevant to the applicant’s current program of study. Within the proposal narrative, each individual needs to include what they will be doing and how it is relevant to their current program of study. To abide by GPSC’s confidentiality clause, each individual must be listed as “person A, B, C etc.” within the proposal narrative.

Awards may be used to cover the following:

• Airfare
• Lodging: Requested daily rates must not exceed those listed in the FSO Meals/Lodging Cost Index.
• Meals: Requested daily rates must not exceed those listed in the FSO Meals/Lodging Cost Index. Meal rates are listed in the posted manuals as “M&IE."
• Local transportation
• Mileage: Requested rates must not exceed those listed in the FSO Transportation policy.
• Event registration fees
• Workshop fees
• Poster printing fees
• Membership fees only if membership is required to attend the conference/event

​​If you have questions regarding the eligibility of an item for funding that is not on the above list, please email gpscgrants@arizona.edu. 

FAQs

Can I submit one application for two events?

• Yes, but only if the two events are back-to-back (i.e., a conference followed by fieldwork, two back-to-back conferences, etc.).

I plan to travel but am not 100% sure yet that I will be going. Can I still apply?

• Yes, you are encouraged to apply even if you are not sure you will be going (i.e., you have not received an acceptance letter for your conference, etc.). If you do not go but receive a GPSC grant, you can withdraw your application, decline the award, or return the funds prior to June 1. 

Does travel to Hawaii count as international travel?

• No, Hawaii and Alaska count as domestic travel. International travel is travel outside of the U.S. or to U.S. territories. Domestic travel includes the 50 U.S. states.

Can I apply for a GPSC Travel Grant if I take personal time before or after the event?

• Yes, but you will be required to submit a justification memo as part of your application explaining that GPSC funds will not be used for personal time.

Is there a limit to the number of days for which I can request lodging and meals?

• No. 

Can the grant cover travel visas, passport fees, or visa mailing fees?

• No.

Can I apply for a travel grant individually in addition to applying as part of a group travel application?

• No.

• There are three Travel Grant rounds per academic year. 
  • Fall round: application opens September 01, closes October 13
  • Winter round: application opens December 01, closes January 21
  • Spring round: application opens February 15, closes March 31
     

• You are eligible to apply for the travel grant round immediately preceding your travel start month, and for the round concurrent with or immediately following your travel start month. You may only receive one GPSC Travel Grant per academic year. 

  • September (Fall) round: August 1, 2024 - January 31, 2025
  • December (Winter) round: December 1, 2024 - March 31, 2025
  • February (Spring) round: February 1, 2025 - July 31, 2025
     

• Travel must start and/or end within the appropriate date range. For instance, if your travel is January 10-18, 2025, you can submit to the Winter 2024 travel grant round. Applications for travel that falls entirely outside of the dates for the round you are applying to will not be accepted or reviewed.

FAQs

It is currently August, but I know I will be traveling in March of next year. There are two application rounds before my travel start date. Can I apply?

• No. You are only eligible to apply for the one round immediately preceding your travel start month (in this case, the December round) and for the one round concurrent with or immediately following your travel start month (in this case, the February round).

Can I apply for more than one travel grant in an academic year if the travel is for different events?

• No, you may receive only one travel grant per academic year. The academic year begins in August.

Can I apply to fund travel which will be taking place after my graduation?

• No. You must be must be an enrolled student at the time of award notifications (4-6 weeks from application closing date).

I am an incoming graduate student enrolled in classes for next semester. Can I apply for a travel grant?

• No. You will not be eligible to apply for a Travel Grant until you are enrolled.

I am an undergraduate enrolled in a dual or accelerated B.A./M.A. program. Am I eligible?

• Once registered as a graduate student, you will be eligible for a Travel Grant.

All required materials must be submitted to the online portal by 11:59 PM Arizona Time on the deadline day. An automated submission confirmation email is generated once an online application is submitted. If you do not receive a confirmation email, please get in touch with the Submittable Technical Support team at support@submittable.com.

Faculty statements of support are due on the same day and time as the applications! In your application, you can enter your faculty supporter's email. Once you submit, it will generate an email from Submittable, which will provide your faculty supporter with a link to upload their statement of support. If you don't submit your application until 11:59 pm the day before the deadline, your faculty supporter may not see their upload link in time to provide you with a letter.

• While not having a letter of support does not immediately disqualify you, it will affect your total score. So, please plan accordingly!

Please advise your faculty recommender to submit a brief letter stating (1) the name of the conference, event, or purpose of travel, (2) the date(s) and place(s) of the conference, event, or purpose of travel, and (3) a statement indicating they support the travel and endorse your application. To maintain standards of double-blind reviewing, we ask that they not include your name in the file name or the letter of support.

FAQs

I do not see the Travel Grant application when I click the “Online Application” button on this website.

• The application may not be open yet. Please check the application opening and closing dates listed above. If the application should be open at this time, please email us at gpscgrants@email.arizona.edu.

I am having trouble submitting my application online. Can I submit my application materials via email?

• No, we can only accept application materials via online application. If you are experiencing issues, please contact Submittable at support@submittable.com.

• The number of awards per round is contingent upon the availability of funds and the number of applications received.

• Applications are reviewed by graduate students from various disciplines. After the judges submit their evaluation scores, a cutoff score is generated based on the number of applications and the amount of funds available.

• For more information regarding the criteria used by the travel grant judges to evaluate the travel grant applications, please refer to the GPSC Travel Grant Evaluation Rubric.

• The GPSC Travel Grant program is competitive and is not a guaranteed source of funding. Awardees are not guaranteed to receive funding before their travel begins.

• Applications are sent for review once the deadline passes.  Evaluation of applications takes approximately 4-6 weeks.  Applicants will be notified via email when their application status changes (Accepted, Declined, etc.).  You may also check your online application portal for updates on your status.  If awarded a travel grant, the amount requested in the application will be distributed through the applicant's Bursar's account as a stipend within two to three weeks after award notification. Stipends are considered taxable income and may affect financial aid status.

• Applicants who were not awarded may be eligible to reapply during subsequent rounds if their travel dates are eligible (see the “Eligibility and Travel Dates” section above).

• If you are awarded a Travel Grant but are unable to attend or would like to decline your award, please notify the Grants Office at gpscfunding@arizona.edu immediately for instructions on how to return unused funds. If taxes were automatically withheld from your award, only the award amount released to you is to be returned to the GPSC. 

• If your event is cancelled but you have already incurred non-refundable charges, the GPSC will not require you to return that portion of the grant to the GPSC. Please complete your Post-Award Report to document the expenses which could not be refunded.

• If less than 90% of awarded GPSC funds are used, then that student will be required to reimburse the University of Arizona for the unspent funds. Please notify us of your unused funds at gpscgrants@email.arizona.edu.

• Any funds being returned to GPSC must be returned prior to June 1 of the fiscal year in which you were awarded.

• Travel Grant awardees must submit a Post-Award Report no later than June 30 of the fiscal year in which they received the award. Awardees failing to submit a Post-Award Report will not be eligible to apply for any future GPSC awards (until the requirement is fulfilled). 

• The Post-Award Report will be assigned to awardees and completed entirely through the Submittable platform. When you log in and click your accepted grant application, you will see the post-award report under the tab labeled "Forms." Required components include 1) a 300-500 word narrative, 2) proof of attendance and 3) verification that all other award conditions have been met. 

• Travel Grant awardees are required to keep receipts of all expenses incurred during travel, to be submitted if requested by the Grants Office.

• Each grant application is evaluated by 2-3 volunteer graduate and professional students.  

• Serving as a judge is a requirement for receiving an award (you will be a judge the following round of getting accepted). However, you don't need to receive a grant to be a judge. 

• Any graduate or professional student may volunteer to serve as a judge. You can sign up to be a GPSC judge/reviewer by emailing gpscfunding@arizona.edu or filling out this form. Serving as a Grants Judge allows you to obtain an insider's perspective on the evaluation process. Other reasons include the following:

  • Formulate a more competitive application by reviewing applications

  • Service experience for your CV or resume

  • Learn an evaluation process similar to major granting agencies  

PLEASE NOTE: You may not serve as a Judge for the Travel Grants in the same round you applied. You may, however, be assigned applications for a different grant (ReaP, PPG, or POD). Please notify us if you have submitted an application and would also like to serve as a judge that round. 

GPSC takes our responsibility seriously to maintain confidentiality. 

Measures to Ensure Confidentiality:

• GPSC policy directs applicants not to include personal identifiers in their application documents.

• Application information shall only be used for evaluation purposes unless disclosure is mandated by University Policy or applicable law.

• Applicants may not contact student reviewers/judges.

Before reviewing grant applications, every individual must sign a Confidentiality and Non – Disclosure Rules form [Click here for Confidential Agreement]. GPSC is not liable for the intentional breach of confidentiality by reviewers.

GPSC uses a third-party platform, Submittable, for Grants application, submission, and management.

GPSC is not liable for any third-party security breaches and hacking of our emails, computers, cloud, and servers.