Graduate Student Travel Awards | Department of History

Because of generous donor support, the Department of History offers travel awards to graduate students for research and conference travel. The Department is grateful to our graduate alumnus Andy Studebaker, the family and friends of our late colleague Maclyn P. Burg, the late Access Student Larry Roseman, the Graduate School, the undergraduate alumnus Lenore Hanauer, and the many other alumni and friends of the Department whose financial support makes these important awards possible.

Our priority is to provide substantive support to meritorious students for expenses incurred in pre-dissertation and dissertation-stage research travel as well as participation in scholarly conferences, both as presenters and as job candidates. There is a single standardized application process for all departmental travel-related funds.

Awards are competitive and will be evaluated on the strength of the application. Criteria to be considered include: clarity and feasibility of research plan; significance of conference paper to the field and to the student's program of study; and contribution to the student's professionalization and career goals. For the conference and dissertation research awards (which may be received more than once), priority will be given to students with strong applications who have not previously received research support.

Preference will also be given to students who, if they are in residence in Seattle, regularly participate in the Department of History Colloquium and other Department-sponsored talks and workshops.

Important: Before using the conference or research travel funding to pay for any expenses, recipients should check with History's Administrator or Fiscal Specialist about allowable expenses to help avoid potential problems with applying and using the travel funding.

Please note that travel not approved by the Office of Global Affairs will not be reimbursable. If your country of travel is in U.S. State Department category 3 or 4 then you may not be able to travel for research or other scholarly purposes, without a waiver.

For Conference Travel Funding:

The History Department offers graduate students presenting papers at scholarly and professional conferences reimbursement for their transportation costs (air, rail, car, hotel) up to $500. Each student is eligible for one conference travel award per year.
Graduate students on the job market with interviews at the American Historical Association (AHA) meetings or elsewhere may have transportation costs reimbursed up to $500. Students should submit application materials directly to the Director of Graduate Studies upon learning that they have interviews.

We STRONGLY encourage students to apply first to the UW Graduate School and the Graduate and Professional Student Senate (GPSS) for conference travel funds.

The Graduate School offers Graduate Student Conference Travel Awards for up to $300 for domestic travel and up to $500 for international travel. The History Department needs to submit the application on your behalf, so please contact the History Graduate Office (histgrad@uw.edu).
GPSS offers Travel Grants for conference travel, up to $300 for domestic travel and up to $500 for international travel. Graduate students are responsible for submitting their own applications for GPSS funding.

When to Apply for Department Conference Travel Funding

The History Deparment accepts applications for conference travel funding on a rolling basis. A student can apply any time after learning that their paper has been accepted by the conference organziers. You can also apply any time up to one month after the end of the conference.

How to Apply for Department Conference Travel Funding

To apply for this support, a student must submit via google form the following materials. Please note that these materials will then be shared with the review committee and, for fiscal purposes, with the Department's Administrator.

A cover page with the student's name, the name of their main faculty advisor, and the type of funding for which they are applying.
A statement of the project (max. 2 pages). For conference travel, it should include the name, dates, and location of the conference as well as the title and subject of the paper to be presented.
A budget for expected travel expenses. This should include as precise data as possible about airfare and, in the case of research grants, accommodation costs. Airfare must be coach-class, and may be reimbursed prior to travel.
Additional funding sources. If you receive funding from another source, please indicate the source of the funding and what costs this other funding will cover.

After you have submitted the online form and required materials, you must email both History's Director of Graduate Studies and the Director of Academic Services to inform them of your submission (they do not receive an automatic alert when an online application has been submitted and so they must be informed in order for your application to be reviewed in a timely fashion.)

For Department Research Travel Funding:

Pre-PhC students embarking on pre-dissertation research may make an application for summer travel support in the Winter and Spring funding rounds. The Department will provide up to $750 for transportation and accommodation costs for domestic travel, and up to $1500 for international travel. Pre-PhC students are eligible for one pre-dissertation research award during their time in the graduate program.
Dissertation-stage (PhC) students may make an application for dissertation research travel support in the Autumn, Winter, and Spring funding rounds. The Department will provide up to $750 for transportation and accommodation costs for domestic travel, and up to $1500 for international travel. Each PhC student is eligible for only one dissertation research award in any given academic year. For dissertation research, funds may also be requested for photocopying and valid research-related costs, as well as per diem.
The Department will also offer, in lieu of travel funds, up to $750 funding for remote archival access to both PhC and pre-PhC students. These funds could be used to pay an archive or library to photocopy or digitize materials if that option is available. Students may also use these funds to pay someone to visit the archive or library and copy or photograph materials on their behalf. Remote archival access awards can be applied for in the current round.

When to Apply for Department Research Travel Funding

Graduate travel awards will be awarded in three funding rounds per year The DGS will post a call for proposals on the MAPhDHist listserv each quarter. The Director of Graduate Studies, in consultation with the Chair of the Department, will review all applications and make the funding decisions.

This academic year's research travel applications will be accepted on the following schedule:
- AUTUMN (deadline December 2, 2024): Open only to PhC students for dissertation-stage research grants.
- WINTER (deadline February 27, 2025): Open to pre-dissertation and dissertation-stage summer research grants.
- SPRING (deadline May 22, 2025): Open to pre-dissertation and dissertation-stage summer research grants.
- Applications for support for interviews at the AHA or elsewhere do not need to be made during the regular application process. Students should submit application materials directly to the Director of Graduate Studies upon learning that they have interviews.

How to Apply for Department Research Travel Funding

A cover page with the student's name, the name of their main faculty advisor, and the type of funding for which they are applying.
A statement of the project (max. 2 pages). For research travel, the statement should also include a plan of research to be completed.
A budget for expected travel expenses. This should include as precise data as possible about airfare and, in the case of research grants, accommodation costs. Airfare must be coach-class, and may be reimbursed prior to travel.
Additional funding sources. If you receive funding from another source, please indicate the source of the funding and what costs this other funding will cover.
In the case of pre-dissertation research travel only: a statement of endorsement from the faculty advisor. This may be conveyed via email directly to the DGS and should state that the advisor has reviewed and approved the project statement and budget.

Reimbursements

After travel, students awarded grants may submit receipts not already reimbursed to the Department's fiscal specialist for payment up to the maximum amount of the grant.
Research: accommodation and ground transportation expenses may be reimbursed after receipts have been submitted. Grantees should make every effort to take the lowest-cost ground transportation possible (train instead of taxi, for example).
Conferences: travel costs such as airfare, train fare, hotels are covered. Conference registration fees may also be reimbursed. To conserve funding resources for students, per diems and meals are usually not covered.