Travel Funding

Travel to present at conferences:

1. To apply: send the Department Head an email saying what conference, where, what your budget for the trip is, and that you're presenting.  A paragraph is sufficient.  List your entire budget for the trip, not just the part the department will cover.  The budget will usually state the amount for plane fare or cost of driving, the amount for housing, and the amount for registration.
2. You should be presenting at the conference, not just attending, but either an oral talk or a poster is fine
3. If there is a really good reason why you need to be at the conference even though you're not presenting, you may be eligible anyway.  Explain this when applying.
4. If the research is for a funded grant that can cover travel expenses, then the grant should cover it instead
5. You must have filed your travel authorization form (see the Administrative Associate) before the travel to get reimbursed.  You cannot do the authorization form afterward.
6. You have to turn in receipts as instructed by the Business Manager in order to get the money.
7. The department usually covers $200 per conference.  There is no hard limit on how many times you can apply per year, but 3 times/year is a likely flexible maximum.
8. Undergraduates, as well as graduate students, are eligible.

Travel and other expenses for research:

1. This can be for travel for research (e.g. fieldwork) or for other research expenses (e.g. paying participants).  Allowable expenses:  travel to the field site, living expenses while at the field site, payments to participants, small payments to local research assistants if really necessary, and (with very good justification, see below) possibly equipment.  Not allowed:  regular living expenses while not on fieldwork, new computers.
2. To apply, send the Department Head the title of the project, an explanation of where you're going on research travel, when, for how long, your budget, and a list of any other funding you've applied for.  Also state whether this is for your dissertation, prelim, undergrad senior honors thesis, etc.  Also state which faculty member is supervising the work (usually your advisor).
3. For graduate students, you must have either applied for other funding to combine with departmental funding (eg. SBSRI, NSF, other external or internal funding) or you need to explain the clear constraints on why your project can't possibly be funded by other sources. 
4. For undergraduates, you do not have to apply for other funding since there are only a few sources you can apply to.  However, if you can apply for additional funding through Honors, UROC, or some other undergrad research program, please do.
5. The budget should list all costs of the project, not just the ones you're asking the department to pay for, and should give some indication of how you plan to pay for the ones beyond what the department can pay for.
6. Research equipment expenses are limited to the equipment you can't borrow from one of the department's existing labs or the UA Library.  That is, explain why it's impossible for you to do the research without buying a specific new piece of equipment.  The Department prefers to fund research travel expenses or participant/consultant payments rather than equipment unless there's a good reason.
7. If the research is closely related to a faculty member's research project that grant funding exists for, explain why you have additional expenses that cannot be covered by the grant.
8. You must do your travel authorization on time (if travel is involved), get human subjects permission on time, and turn in receipts correctly to be reimbursed.
9. There is no specific maximum on how much this funding can be, but it's not likely to exceed $500/project and may be less depending on how many people apply for it.  It may be unavailable in some years depending on the Department's budget.

Please send your electronic applications to Dr. Natasha Warner, copying Joshua Carlin.  Applications for travel funding are accepted at any time.

IMPORTANT

The University of Arizona requires that travel must be authorized and documented prior to all official University travel activities.  

Please send your travel information to Marian Wiseley PRIOR to your trip.  She will help you fill out a Travel Authorization Form for you and mail it to FSO Operations Travel Office before the travel event commences.

Filling out the Travel Authorization Form is mandatory even if you are not applying for departmental travel funds.

* You have 90 days from the date of return from travel to submit your reimbursement request. After 90 days, you will be taxed on the amount of your reimbursement. *