Expenses & Travel Funding for Graduate Students

  Funding for Academic Travel 
Eligibility

The Department makes available a modest amount of funding for travel and lodging toward an academic endeavor. Ph.D. students should make their travel funding requests known as early as possible, even if their itinerary is not yet completely finalized. Travel funding is not available to students prior to the completion of the M.A.
Amount

Ph.D. graduate students have $2,500 travel funding available in total, and may seek reimbursement for up to $750 per fiscal year.
Purpose of Travel

Applications for graduate student travel funding may be made available for the following purposes: to give a paper at a graduate or non-graduate conference, fulfill a library or archive fellowship, or attend other competitive programs of study. No more than one proposal to present scholarly work at a graduate student conference will be funded in a student’s career. Doctoral candidates especially are encouraged to seek professional venues to present their work.  
Other Travel Funding

In addition to their travel allowance, Ph.D. students on the job market who have secured at least one interview may seek reimbursement for one trip to the MLA. This may only occur once in a student’s career, and a student may be reimbursed for up to $1,000 maximum.

Travel Procedures
  • To begin their request for funding, Ph.D. students should fill out the Graduate Travel Request form, and gather the required signatures from their Advisor, the Director of Graduate Studies, and the Graduate Program Coordinator. Then, the student should email the completed form as a PDF attachment to the Graduate Program Coordinator.  
  • The Graduate Program Coordinator will let the department financial preparer know if the applicant has enough funds left to cover their proposed travel expenses.  
  • If approved, and after your trip is complete, submit the Reimbursement Request form (CLA Form UM 1911) along with original receipts within 30 days to [email protected].
  • If the student has questions on how to navigate the process, they should contact the Department’s Financial Preparer. Please note the funding year follows the University’s fiscal year and begins July 1 and ends within the first week of June. The student is responsible for paying all expenses directly, and for seeking reimbursement.
Meals Per the University of Minnesota travel policy, travelers are responsible for using personal funds to pay for meal and incidental expenses. The University will reimburse these expenses using federally established per diem rates for the destination city of their travel. Travelers may use one location (for example, lodging location) for per diem for each day of travel.  Actual per diem rates are pre-loaded and calculated in the expense system. Per diem amounts can be found here.    
 
Additional Information

The university has a number of requirements for students traveling overseas for academic or University-related purposes. This policy applies to all students on any university program abroad (including student organization travel), or any overseas program connected to their studies at UMN, even if coordinated or funded through another organization. This includes, but is not limited to: internships, field experiences, capstones, and research. Not sure if your travel qualifies as University travel? Contact Global Programs and Strategy Alliance at [email protected]. Please also check GPS Alliance’s website to see if there are any university travel bans or restrictions. 

The two key requirements for students traveling abroad for University purposes are obtaining International Insurance and completing the International Travel Registry for Students. Please consult the handbook or contact the GPC for more information.