Graduate and professional students who will be presenting research on behalf of UT at in-person or virtual professional conferences may receive support to help with travel costs. Only students who are presenting first authors will be funded through this mechanism. In an attempt to help fund as many students as possible, students are allowed only one GSS Travel Award per year.
Departments and/or colleges should help support the cost of these trips. Students are expected to notify their advisor(s), department head, and college dean of travel in advance of submitting this application in order to request funding. Students must submit their applications prior to attending the conference (with the exception of the first review period). Any approved funding will be paid upon receipt of the appropriate documentation following the trip through Concur. Please note that this application is used solely by the GSS Travel Awards Committee for funding deliberations and is not connected with the UT travel reimbursement system (i.e. Concur). This application does not serve as an official travel notice to UT and is not intended as a method for requesting funding from your department/college.
The GSS Travel Awards Committee will review the requests two times during the fall semester, two times during the spring semester, and one time prior to the start of summer school (after each deadline listed below). Because funds are limited, students that are seeking travel assistance are encouraged to apply as early as possible.
- Requests for travel between September 01, 2023, and October 31, 2023, must be submitted by October 1, 2023
- Requests for travel between November 01, 2023, and December 31, 2023, must be submitted by November 1, 2023
- Requests for travel between January 01, 2024, and February 29, 2024, must be submitted by December 1, 2023
- Requests for travel between March 01, 2024, and April 30, 2024, must be submitted by February 1, 2024
- Requests for travel between May 01, 2024, and August 31, 2024, must be submitted by April 5, 2024
- Requests submitted for travel after August 31, 2024, cannot be fulfilled at this time, and information regarding submissions after this date is forthcoming.
Apply for a GSS Travel Award
In order for your application to be complete, it must be received by no later than 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on the day of the submission deadline for the desired review period. Submissions past the deadline for your desired review period will not be considered by GSS. The GSS Travel Awards Committee will meet after each posted deadline, and students receiving a GSS Travel Award will be notified approximately two weeks after the deadline. Applications submitted well in advance (i.e. before a deadline prior to the desired review period) will be considered at the next GSS Travel Awards Committee meeting, and students will be notified approximately two weeks after that meeting.
You will receive an email when all signatures (advisor, department head, college dean) have been received. If all signatures have not been received by one week after the submission deadline, the application will not be considered by GSS. It is the student’s responsibility to be in direct contact with their advisor, department head, and college to ensure all signatures are submitted on time. If your travel falls between two review periods, you must apply for the earlier review period in order to be eligible for reimbursement.
After receiving a notice of funding approval from the GSS Travel Awards Committee, students will work with their advisor and/or departmental business office to submit travel requests through Concur. In order to be eligible for travel reimbursement, all UT travel policies and requirements must be followed. Specific details regarding GSS Travel Award funding procedures will also be included in student award letters. Any questions directly related to travel awards should be directed to gsstravel@utk.edu and gss@utk.edu in order for a prompt response.
Frequently Asked Questions
Students who are first presenters (for the conference) but not necessarily first authors (for the final journal publication/project) are eligible for a GSS Travel Award. When submitting the application, you will be asked to provide evidence that you are the first presenter at the conference (acceptance must list your name, see additional Q below about timing).
The GSS Travel Award can be used to cover the expenses listed under “Coverage”. To ensure the largest number of applicants benefit from the awards, most of the students will receive a partial expenses coverage.
Students must apply for the earlier application period to be eligible for a GSS Travel Award. Your application should be submitted to the travel period with the corresponding coverage period that your conference falls under.
Students are eligible for one GSS Travel Award per academic year. Students are advised to list the conference with largest travel expenses in their GSS Travel Award application.
Students are eligible to receive one GSS Travel Award per year (following the committee’s periods). If you do not or cannot accept your award, please contact the committee ASAP. You will be eligible to apply for another award within the year only if you notify the committee in a timely manner to decline your award or revoke your application.
Yes, students with no proof of acceptance can apply for a GSS Travel Award and will be informed if they receive a GSS Travel Award but no award letter will be issued until the GSS Travel awards Committee receives a proof of acceptance.
Students are eligible to reapply for a GSS Travel Award as long as they have informed the GSS Travel Awards Committee in a timely manner of their decision to decline the previously received GSS Travel Award. Students are limited to one GSS Travel Award per academic year.
Any funds expected to be received other than funds from the advisor(s), department, and college are considered as “other funding”.
You have one week after the application deadline to obtain all required signatures otherwise your application will not be considered.
Students are limited to one award per academic year, Summer and Fall 2023 are not part of the same academic year. So the answer is ‘yes.’ Any conference presentations that are September 1, 2023 through August 31, 2024 are considered part of the 2023-24 academic year.
We have condensed all of this information into a Travel Awards Guide.
Page updated 8/23/23