Travel Grant Sample Documents

General guidelines:

DO attach PDFs or screenshots of full emails, including sender, recipient, date, and subject lines
DO ensure that all relevant identifying information is included in your submission
DO NOT cut out information that will be needed to verify the legitimacy of your document

The easiest way to get a useable document is to save your email as a pdf, or “Print to PDF.”

If using the Outlook App, open the email you wish to save, click “File,” then click “Print,” and then select a “Print to PDF” or “Adobe PDF” option, and then click “Print.”

You will then be presented with the option to save that email as a PDF, which you can upload to our application.

If using the Outlook web portal, click the “printer” icon or click the three dots to open a menu, and click “Print.” In your printer destination, select “Save as PDF,” then save.

Conference verification

Students applying for a presentation grant must show that they have been accepted to present at a particular conference. This might be an email from a conference organizer, or a screenshot of an official preliminary program. To approve this component of your application, your proof must show:

  • Your name
  • The name and date(s) of your conference
  • Some confirmation that you will be presenting at the conference

Click here for an example of conference presentation proof.

Students applying for an attendance grant must show that they have paid for their conference registration. Generally, this “proof” can be a confirmation email that the traveler received or some type of “confirmation screen” after payment. To be approved as a component of your application, your confirmation must show:

  • your name, as a registered attendee
  • the name of your conference or performance
  • the dates of the conference

Click here for an example of conference registration.

Departmental approval of your conference

Whether applying for a presentation or attendance grant, you will need a professor from your department who is familiar with your work to verify that the conference you are attending meets baseline academic and professional criteria. The conference should be academically relevant to your program of study, provide opportunities for networking with other professionals in your field, and be recognized by your program as a conference worth attending. This proof should show:

  • that it is coming from a faculty member within your department—your dissertation/thesis advisor, department chair, or graduate program director faculty
  • It should approve this specific conference by name
  • It should be clear that you are included in that approval, either by addressing you or by being sent to your email address

Advisors can provide a brief acceptance (if you have provided adequate context) like this, or a longer acceptance that addresses these points.

A department chair can provide a blanket approval for graduate students, like this.

Confirming your request of departmental funding

All applicants must include proof that they are seeking funding from their department—whether funding is available or not. Different departments have unique approaches to their graduate travel funding, but generally, this request should clearly show that you have reached out to the appropriate party (e.g., a travel representative, advisor, manager of a travel fund, chair) and made an explicit request for any travel funding that is available to you, for the conference you are planning to attend.

If your department has an application for funding, you must show that you have submitted that application, within the timeframe required for that application to be reviewed. If a confirmation page does not show your name (i.e., if it does not clearly show that you were the applicant), please write to your travel representative or other application reviewer to request that confirmation in writing so it can be included in your GSRC application.

Even if your department has no travel funding available for graduate student travel or you have already reached your limit of department funding, you still need to show that you’ve taken this step of inquiry.

Click here for an example of a request for departmental funding that was already promised.
Click here for an example of submitting an application for funding.
Click here for an example of a request to participate in a departmental activity for funding.
Click here for an example of requesting funding if your department doesn’t have any.

Confirming your request of COGS funding

All applicants must include proof that they have applied for travel funding from the Congress of Graduate Students (COGS). Generally speaking, this proof will come in one of two forms:

Whichever form you choose, ensure that your name appears as the applicant.

If you have already reached your limit of COGS funding from the fiscal year, you may either apply again (knowing that you will be denied) or include clear evidence that you have reached that limit and will not be considered for an additional grant.