UTM Conference Travel Grants
Grant Purpose
UTM Conference Travel Grants are intended to encourage eligible students to present their research at academic conferences. Graduate students falling into one of the following three categories are eligible to apply for these grants:
- doctoral stream graduate students who are based at (“affiliated with”) the University of Toronto Mississauga;
- PhD students who are not based at the University of Toronto Mississauga but have thesis supervisors who are
- students in the Master of Science in Biomedical Communications (MScBMC).
Travel Grants will be provided only to fund conference travel. Other research travel purposes, such as off-site data collection or collaboration, are ineligible for these grants.
Value
The UTM Graduate Office will provide up to $500 per student in matching funding to support graduate student travel to attend and present their research at a regional, national, or international conference or at an equivalent academic event. Expense eligibility will be in accordance with the policies of the University of Toronto and the federal research granting councils.
Matching Requirements
Funds from the UTM Graduate Office must be matched on a 1:1 basis by the student’s faculty supervisor, graduate unit, or a UTM department.
When awarded, the travel grant will be electronically transferred to the research account of the student’s faculty supervisor. (The supervisor must undertake to return the funds to the Graduate Office if the necessary match is not secured or the applicant is unable to travel as planned.)
Student Eligibility
To apply, a student must be:
- either (i) a doctoral stream graduate student who is identified in ROSI as based at the University of Toronto Mississauga or (ii) a PhD student who is identified in ROSI as having a thesis supervisor based at the University of Toronto Mississauga;
- registered full-time at the time of application and at the time of conference attendance; and
- in good standing, as defined by the student’s graduate unit.
Note: A student will be identified in ROSI as based at the University of Toronto Mississauga if the student has submitted a completed SGS Affiliation Form indicating that they are so affiliated (and has not subsequently changed that affiliation).
Every applicant must specify: the name, location, and date of the conference or meeting they plan to attend as an active participant; how the conference or meeting is relevant to the applicant’s academic program; and the form of the applicant’s participation at the event—e.g., as a speaker, poster presenter, member of a panel or round table. (A student who has applied to participate as an active participant in some conference but has not yet received word from the conference organizers as to the success of that application is eligible to apply for a Conference Travel Grant. If the student receives an award but his or her conference application is unsuccessful, the student’s supervisor will be required to return the funds to the Graduate Office.)
A student is eligible to receive two (2) UTM Conference Travel Grants in any twelve month period.
Application Process and Deadlines
A one-page application form and one-page attachment (for a total of two pages) must be completed and submitted to the Graduate Office in advance of one of two annual application deadlines. Deadlines are scheduled as follows:
Friday, September 16, 2022 for the Fall 2022 Competition: This competition will support conferences taking place between October 1, 2022 - March 31, 2023.
Friday, March 10, 2023 for the Spring 2023 Competition: This competition will support conferences taking place between April 1, 2023 - September 30, 2023.
Adjudication Process
If an eligible student has secured the necessary matching funds and has applied to be an active participant at conference or meeting relevant to the student’s academic program, a grant will be awarded to the student provided that the UTM Graduate Office funding envelope for the category of applicant within which the student falls has not been exhausted. If the total sum of grant requests exceeds available funding for a given category of applicant, priority will be given in the following manner:
- applicants who have not previously attended a conference during their current program of study;
- applicants who have not received a UTM Conference Grant in previous years; and
- applicants who are close to completing their academic programs.
Out-of-Country Programs
Students planning to participate in conferences held outside of Canada are required to register with the University of Toronto Safety Abroad Database. Full guidelines are available at:
http://cie.utoronto.ca/Safety/Safety-Abroad-Travel-Guide.htm .
Return the travel grant application form, completed and signed, together with a one-page Relevance Statement to the Office of the Dean, Attention: Vice-Dean, Graduate (William G. Davis Building, Room 3200; fax: 905-828-3979).