13 Applying for Funding

Depending on distance, length of conference, and registration fees, the costs of attending academic conferences can mount quickly. As a graduate student, you should be eligible for funding to help allay these costs from a couple of key sources:

• Your Department: The Chair of your Academic Department may have access to designated or discretionary funding to support graduate student’s professional development through conference participation. Typically, this is only reserved for students who are presenting in conferences, but can be used to cover costs of registration, travel or accommodations. Ask your department chair or administrator if they have access to designated conference funding for students or if they consider applications for funding on an ad hoc basis, and what application process is necessary for you.
• Your Supervisor: Funding for trainees’ research dissemination, may be an explicit line item in your supervisor’s research funding. Approach your supervisor with a clear understanding of what the total costs of conference participation will be for you, and ask if they have funding to allay a portion or all of these costs. It is not uncommon for a supervisor’s research funding to cover some, but not all, of the costs associated with attending a conference (for instance, the registration fee).
• Scholarships: Competitions are held several times a year for internal and external scholarships for conference funding. These include faculty specific competitions, a competition held by the Graduate Student Association, and competitions held by external funders with research interests related to your own. Additionally, conference organizers may also offer scholarships for students that cover the cost of registrations; if information about such a program is not advertised on the conference website, consider contacting the conference organizers directly to inquire.