Student Travel Grant

Intended to support GSAS graduate students who are presenting in remote or in-person conferences. Students may only receive the grant once. This award does not support conference attendance only. The maximum amount of grant per applicant is $500.

Incurred travel expenses have to follow University Travel Expense Policy.

HOW TO APPLY

Simply complete the Student Grant Travel Application Form and send a proof of conference acceptance to the ASGC Finance Chair at [email protected].

IMPORTANT NOTICE: If you are going to attend an in-person international conference, make sure to register your travel on Columbia's Global Travel prior to attending the conference. For details, please follow guidelines here.

ELIGIBILITY

All must apply:

  • students from MA and PhD programs administered by GSAS (see eligible programs here)*
  • students who have not yet received a Student Travel Grant from ASGC (or from former GSAC)
  • will remain the registered status after the conference (i.e. still enroll as a student at GSAS)

*If your program is not administered by GSAS, you can find student council which represents your program here. 

DEADLINES

Our deadlines are based on when conference proposals have been accepted (as opposed to actual conference dates):

  • For acceptance letters received January 20- April 20, 2024:
    • Application due April 20, 2024
    • Recipients announced by early May
  • For acceptance letters received April 20-June 30, 2024:
    • Application due June 30, 2024
    • Recipients announced by early July
  • For acceptance letters received July 1- August 20, 2024:
    • Application due August 20, 2024
    • Recipients announced by early September
  • For acceptance letters received August 20-November 20, 2024:
    • Application due November 20, 2024
    • Recipients announced by early December

REIMBURSEMENT PROCEDURE

Funding is on a reimbursement basis, i.e., you must submit receipts for expenses up to the amount awarded by ASGC. This must be done by preparing a reimbursement packet of the following:

  1. The ASGC Travel Grant award letter (email).
  2. A completed Non-Profiled Payee Travel and Business Expense Worksheet (opens in a new tab):
    • The person to be reimbursed is the Payee.
    • Alcohol is considered as a separate item and should be segregated from other expenses.
    • Save as pdf.
  3. An advertisement for the conference (preferably listing your name).
  4. Scanned and/or electronic receipts documenting all of the expenditures approved for the grant. Please send documents as separate files, not as a combined single document. For expenses in a foreign currency, please document how you converted them to US dollars. Receipts have to show the card holder name, last 4 of the card and the amount charged or something of that nature. Bank statements can also be used, but the charges have to be fully processed (pending charges will not be accepted).
  5. (Updated in Fall 2023) If you are going to book lodging with Airbnb, please provide documentation of price comparisons of nearby hotels at the time of booking.
  6. For additional instructions and tips, visit here.

To receive a reimbursement, email the packet to Harold Ansah at [email protected] and fill out the Student Travel Grant Reimbursement Form within 30 days following the conference.

FAQ

Q: Are there any other travel grants available at Columbia that I can apply to? 
A: We suggest that you apply to the GSAS conference matching travel fund before applying to ASGC. The GSAS travel grants are guaranteed for the eligible candidates. Check our Useful Links page for other grants.

Q: Am I eligible to apply for ASGC Travel Grant if I already received GSAS Matching Travel Fund?
A: Yes.

Q: I already attended the conference, can I still apply for a travel grant? 
A: Yes, but the acceptance letter still had to be received within the ongoing application window. Remember that you must have original receipts to apply for reimbursement. If you did not save your receipts, please do not apply for the travel grant, since you will not get reimbursed.

Q: I submitted an application and haven’t received an email saying whether or not I was selected to receive a travel grant. 
A: ASGC only emails the recipients, if you’re wondering whether they’ve been selected check on this webpage.

Q: I am a 10th year student in the _____ department, am I eligible to apply? 
A: All current GSAS students are eligible to apply as long as they meet the eligibility requirements listed above.

Q: Can I use the travel grant to attend a conference other than the one that was listed on my original application? 
A: No, unless your conference got canceled or you are unable to attend it due to COVID-19 related travel restrictions.