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Current Students:

Travel Awards

GSBS provides funding to support costs associated with virtual attendance and participation in scientific conferences. This award provides up to $200 to cover registration and other costs for attendance for one such meeting per academic year. Receiving this award will have no impact on the eligibility of the student to receive another travel award for in-person conferences within the same academic year.

An additional $100 funding will be provided to eligible applicants who submit a copy of their IDPs completed within the last year. 

The following criteria are considered when reviewing a request for funds: 

  1. The student has completed the Award Application to Attend a Virtual Conference and has submitted the Application and Abstract at least four weeks prior to beginning of the virtual meeting.  
  2. The student must be first-author or co-first author of a presentation (talk or poster) at the conference. The research that the student presents at the conference must be research performed as a UT-GSBS student.  A student who has performed research prior to matriculating at GSBS may not use that research as the basis for this award.   
  3. The student must be in good academic standing.  
  4. The student must not be overdue for a Committee meeting at the time of the application for this award. 
  5. The student must have created an ORCID account that is public, updated, and linked to his/her myGSBS page.
  6. Submitting a copy of your GSBS IDP makes you eligible to receive an additional funding of $100. More information on the GSBS IDP can be found here. Please refer questions about the IDP to [email protected].   
  • Virtual Scientific Conferences

    GSBS provides funding to support costs associated with virtual attendance and participation in scientific conferences. This award provides up to $200 to cover registration and other costs for attendance for one such meeting per academic year. Receiving this award will have no impact on the eligibility of the student to receive another travel award for in-person conferences within the same academic year.

    An additional $100 funding will be provided to eligible applicants who submit a copy of their IDPs completed within the last year. 

    The following criteria are considered when reviewing a request for funds: 

    1. The student has completed the Award Application to Attend a Virtual Conference and has submitted the Application and Abstract at least four weeks prior to beginning of the virtual meeting.  
    2. The student must be first-author or co-first author of a presentation (talk or poster) at the conference. The research that the student presents at the conference must be research performed as a UT-GSBS student.  A student who has performed research prior to matriculating at GSBS may not use that research as the basis for this award.   
    3. The student must be in good academic standing.  
    4. The student must not be overdue for a Committee meeting at the time of the application for this award. 
    5. The student must have created an ORCID account that is public, updated, and linked to his/her myGSBS page.
    6. Submitting a copy of your GSBS IDP makes you eligible to receive an additional funding of $100. More information on the GSBS IDP can be found here. Please refer questions about the IDP to [email protected].   
  • In-Person Scientific Conferences

    Each year GSBS provides funding to help students defray the costs of attending scientific meetings. These Travel Awards, approved by the Office of Academic Affairs, are in the following amounts:

    • MS/SMS & Pre-candidacy PhD students -- $500
    • Post-candidacy PhD students -- $750

    Receiving this award will have no impact on the eligibility of the student to receive another award to attend a virtual conference within the same academic year.

    An additional $100 funding will be provided to eligible applicants who submit a copy of their IDPs completed within the last year. 

    The Student Affairs Office considers the following criteria when reviewing a request for travel funds:

    1. The student has completed the Travel Award Application for In-Person Conferences and has submitted the Application, Abstract and proof of its acceptance via DocuSign preferably four weeks before requested travel date.

    2. The student must be first author or co-first author of a presentation (talk or poster) at a regional, national or international meeting. The research that the student present must be research performed as a UT-GSBS student. A student who has performed research prior to joining the schools as a student may not use that research as the basis for the travel award.

     or

    The student has been invited to attend a prestigious meeting, eg., a Gordon Conference. 

    3. The student must be in good academic standing.

    4. The student must not be overdue for an Advisory Committee meeting at the time of the application for the travel award.

    5. The student must not have received a travel award during the current academic year. (Program awards excluded)

    6. The student must have an ORCID account that is public, updated, and linked to his/her myGSBS page.

    7. A student who submits a copy of his/her GSBS IDP makes him/her eligible to receive an additional funding of $100. The IDP must have been completed within the last year. More information on the GSBS IDP can be found here. Please refer questions about the IDP to
    [email protected].  

  • Off-Site Courses

    With the goal of encouraging graduate students to attend scientific off-site courses that will benefit their training and research, the GSBS will provide awards of up to $1,000. This funding will primarily cover course registration fees. If a student receives a scholarship from the course organizers that covers registration fees, either partially or fully, the remaining amount can be used for travel expenses to attend the course. Examples of eligible courses include those offered by Cold Spring Harbor Labs and the MBL at Woods Hole. Applicants must first be selected for admission to a course related to their thesis or dissertation. The application for GSBS funds must be submitted no later than four weeks before the first day of travel. Both MS and PhD students are eligible.

    Additionally, an extra $100 will be awarded to eligible applicants who submit a copy of their Individual Development Plan (IDP), completed within the last year.

    Application: The application should include the following information. 

    • Proof that the applicant has been admitted to the course and was considered for financial aid by the course organizers (only students who can document that they have applied for financial aid from the course organizers will be considered for a GSBS award. It is not required that aid was granted).  
    • A short statement (< 200 words) from the student describing both how the course will benefit the student’s training and its relationship to the thesis or dissertation project.
    • Submitting a copy of your GSBS IDP makes you eligible to receive an additional funding of $100. The IDP must have been completed within the last year. More information on the GSBS IDP can be found here. Please refer questions about the IDP to [email protected].                                                           

    Applications will be reviewed by the Office of Academic Affairs using the following criteria:  

    • Potential impact of the course on the student and relevance to the research project  
    • The academic standing of the student and full-time registration.  
    • Students who are overdue for committee meetings or degree milestones will not be considered unless the delay has been specifically approved by GSBS Academic Affairs.  
    • The student must not have traveled (or plan to) on any kind of GSBS travel award during the current academic year (program awards excluded).
    • The student must have an ORCID account that is public, updated, and linked to his/her myGSBS page. 

    Note: In accepting this award, the student agrees in advance to participate in an educational event at which they will be asked to make a presentation on their experiences in the course to other interested GSBS students.

Questions?

For questions about the administration of Awards and Funding, please contact Joy Lademora.

For finance-related questions, please contact Elisabet Lau.