Travel Funds
The Department of Cognitive Science supports graduate student participation in scientific conferences. We strongly encourage you to submit papers and posters to conferences. There are several kinds of sources of funding available for your participation in conferences.
Department Funds
If your paper or poster is accepted for presentation, and if you do not have access to other travel funds (see below), the department will fund *some* of your travel expenses. In order to get the most out of our limited funds and give the greatest number of students a chance to participate in conferences, we can only cover air travel at the lowest available economy fare, and a budget hotel room.
In past years, we have been able to fund all the requests we received up to a limit of $500. If we run out of money, of course, we won't be able to fund any more trips. In general, priority will be given to domestic travel requests. Requests for foreign travel will be considered, but we may not be able to provide full reimbursement for air and hotel. When your paper or poster has been accepted and when you have determined that other funds are not available, please include the following information on a Request For Funds form. Hard copy forms are also located outside Room 149.
- Name of the conference
- The form of your presentation (oral or poster)
- Acceptance rates for oral and poster presentations at this conference (if available)
- Amount of support requesting
Once approved, please contact the Fiscal Assistant (room 147, or at x46776) for further instructions on reimbursement and/or any advance payments you will require.
Academic Senate Funds for Travel to other UC Campuses and Labs
Each year, the academic senate allocates funds to the department for faculty and graduate student travel to other UC campuses and labs. You should apply the same way as other grad travel. Please note, however, that the money can only be used for transportation expenses. Traditionally, these funds have gone virtually untapped.
The Dean's Social Science Research Travel Fund
The Dean's Office in the Division of Social Sciences has established a small fund to help assistant professors and graduate students with travel for research purposes. The awards will be given for presenting research papers at meetings organized by professional societies, universities, institutes, or other academic organizations. Proof of the invitation to participate must be supplied, along with a one-page synopsis of the paper. These funds are also available for field research, for which a one-page description of the research, its significance, and its need to be conducted outside of San Diego must be submitted.
In addition, all applicants should include the following:
- Curriculum Vitae
- Budget for airfare, hotel, and per diem (please note the travel award will cover only the equivalent of coach airfare)
- Letter of recommendation from the student’s advisor.
Any research involving human subjects must be approved by the Human Subjects Committee, and research involving animals must be approved by the Animal Subjects Committee. The date and approval number should be included in the application (or if pending, a copy of the IRB cover letter should be attached). All standard university rules for funding travel must be followed. Awards will cover only the equivalent of coach air fare. No one may receive more than one award in any academic year.
Applications are typically due in January and announced the first week of February. A Research Committee of senior social scientists from the Division will evaluate the applications.
Read for more information and the application. Contact Sara Quarterman at ssdean@ucsd.edu or (858) 534-6073.
Note: These funds can be applied for in conjunction with departmental funds.
Faculty Research Grants
Speak to your advisor about the availability of funds from her/his research grants.