Conference presentation awards assist graduate students with travel fares and conference registration fees for conferences at which they will present papers, posters, performances or installations.
Maximum Amounts
- $300 for virtual conference registration fee
- $300 for domestic travel and conference registration fee
- $500 for international travel and conference registration fee
Eligibility
The student must:
- be confirmed as a presenter;
- be in a UW graduate degree program and presenting work developed at the UW (not a prior institution);
- be enrolled in UW courses at the time of the conference (or enrolled in the spring and registered for autumn if conference is in the summer);
- not have received a Graduate School conference award in the prior year (July 1–June 30).
- Award requests are due prior to the conference. Requests must be submitted by department personnel via MyGrad. Conference awards will not be awarded retroactively.
Priorities
- Graduate students who do not have other funding for the conference;
- Graduate students who have not previously received a Graduate School conference presentation award;
- Graduate students in departments that have received fewer conference awards than other departments (we attempt to distribute the limited funds equitably among departments).
Award Requirements
- Funds may be used only for transportation (airfare, mileage, taxis, etc.) and conference registration fees; funds may not be used for hotels, food or other expenses.
- The award must be distributed to the student via direct reimbursement. No budget transfers are allowed.
Request Process
Award requests are made to the Graduate School by departments. Students wishing to be considered for a conference presentation award should contact their Graduate Program Adviser. To request awards, departments should:
- Develop a departmental process for students to submit conference award requests to the department.
- Set department priorities for requesting conference awards from the Graduate School.
- Departments may choose to rank the requests they submit, and we will consider them in order of priority.
- By submitting a request, departments verify that the conference is significant within the field of study and that the experience is important to the student’s academic progress.
- Gather required information:
- Title of the student’s paper, poster, presentation or installation;
- Conference dates and website address;
- If applicable, student travel dates and location of conference;
- Confirmation that the student will present at the conference (e.g. acceptance letter or conference schedule);
- Answer to the question: Has the student applied for or been offered other funding for the conference (e.g. from the conference, department, faculty or GPSS). If yes, source and amount offered.
- Authorized department personnel submit request in MyGrad via Admin > Awards > Requests > Request New Award > Graduate Student Conference Presentation Award. Requests must be submitted prior to the conference.
Submit a Conference Presentation Request
Response to request
You may expect a response to your submitted request within two weeks. The department requester and the student will receive email notification when a request is awarded, declined or put on the wait list.
If a department has made significantly greater use of conference presentation awards than other departments, we may begin to place requests on a wait list. Students on the wait list may be awarded near the end of the fiscal year, in April or May, if funds are available. If any students on the wait list are fully reimbursed in the interim, they will not be eligible for an award.
Award Distribution
- Student accepts the award in MyGrad.
- Department personnel view the authorized award amount and budget number in MyGrad (accessible after student accepts the award).
- Department personnel reimburse the student’s conference registration fee and/or travel expenses, up to the amount authorized, directly from the departmental GSF-RSA budget (75-XXXX). Please use PCA code “GRAD” when reimbursing. We require that students be reimbursed directly and that no budget transfers be done.
If an award is made and the student does not attend the conference or chooses not to use the Graduate School funding, please notify the Office of Fellowships & Awards so the award can be canceled and the student can maintain eligibility for funding.
Questions should be directed to the Office of Fellowships & Awards.