This policy is in effect annually for conferences held May 1 - April 30.
Late applications are not considered.
Please note Travel Grants are designed to offset some of the costs associated with graduate student conference travel and are NOT meant to be a primary source of funding. We strongly encourage graduate students to seek out and secure additional funding sources as well (i.e. faculty research project funds, and other).
The Graduate Student Association as well as the School of Graduate Studies have also launched conference funding programs, so please feel free to seek additional funds by applying to these programs.
Eligibility | Application Process | To claim your approved funds | FAQs | Contacts
Application Form | U of T Expense Claim Form | Eligible Travel Expenses
Eligibility:
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A minimum of $400 and up to a maximum of $850 for a conference held outside North America
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A minimum of $150 and up to a maximum of $300 for a conference held within North America (Conference must be at least 200 km from the University of Toronto, St. George Campus)
Please note, maximum funding is not guaranteed. It is suggested to budget travel with the minimum amounts in mind.
- All presentations must be peer-reviewed
- A cap of $1000 for each student will be applied for the fiscal year (May 1- April 30)
- A conference is considered “within North America” if it is held in Canada or the United States of America (excuding Hawaii). Conferences must be atleast 200km from the University of Toronto, St George Campus to be considered - please see map under FAQs. Hawaii and the Caribbean are considered “outside North America”.
- Students must submit an application form together with documentation that they have been accepted or have submitted to present at the conference to the Dean's Office. In cases where students have not yet received their acceptance documentation from the conference organizers by the deadline date above, students should still apply and provide documentation that they have submitted a proposal.
- Eligible applicants will be contacted by email to confirm the amount of funding available to them. Please note that each round of funding sees hundreds of applications. Every effort is made to process applications within two weeks of the submission deadline, but this time frame may vary.
- After the conference is over, students may only claim reimbursement for the approved conference up to the amount specified. They may not reserve or transfer the money for another conference if they do not attend the approved conference or use all the funds. If they wish to apply for another conference, they must submit another application in accordance with the deadlines listed above.
1. Preapproval forms will be sent to your departmental Business Officer approximately 2 weeks after the submission deadline (see deadline dates above).
2. Students may contact the Dean's Office or their business officer to find out the approved amounts for their round of funding approximately two weeks after the submission deadline.
3. You must present your original receipts to your departmental business officer to access the approved funds within 30 days of the last day of the conference. After 30 days your funding is expired and you are not able to submit a claim.
Within 30 days of the last day of the conference, students must submit to their business officers:
· a U of T Expense Claim Form signed by your faculty supervisor prior to submitting to your business officer
· all relevant original receipts
· documentation proving their participation in the approved conference
4. Cheques will be issued up to the maximum amount approved (please note claims must be submitted with original receipts and proof of travel).
5. Claims will be processed by your department in a timely manner but please give consideration to peak periods.
Eligible Travel Expenses for the OISE Graduate Students Conference Travel Program include; flight, hotel accomodation, railway, bus and conference registration fees ONLY, in compliance with the U of T policy on these items.
Things to Remember:
- Sign your application form.
- Sign your expense claim.
- Keep all ORIGINAL receipts when travelling. Items on your expense claim will only be reimbursed with original receipts. Photocopies and credit card/banking statements are not acceptable.
- If you are claiming airfare, submit your cancelled (used) airline ticket, or electronic ticket INCLUDING BOARDING PASSES FOR YOUR FLIGHT (flights will not be reimbursed without boarding passes.)
- Make sure your receipts (i.e., hotel accommodations) have your name on them if you plan on claiming them. You will not be reimbursed if your receipt has someone else's name indicated in the billing section.
- If claiming conference registration fees, list the registration fee on the expense report form under "Other" in the list of expense categories.
- Only submit receipts to substantiate the claim up to the amount of eligible funding. Receipts for items in excess of the amount of funding are unnecessary and will not be kept as part of the record of the claim.
- Receipts must indicate a method of payment and a remaining balance of $0.
- For foreign currency exchange, the University determines the conversion rate unless a bank receipt indicating the conversion rate is included with the expense report form.
- Reimbursements requests may take longer to process at given times throughout the academic term.
How much money will I be awarded to attend my conference?
Conferences held within North America
Conferences must be at least 200km from the University of Toronto St George Campus, see map below. For a conference held within North America funding awarded can range from a minimum of $150 and up to a maximum of $300.
Conference held outside North America (includes Hawaii and the Caribbean)
For a conference held outside of North America the funding awarded could range from a minimum of $400 and up to a maximum of $850.
Please note, maximum funding is not guaranteed and applicants should budget travel with minimum amounts in mind.
The amount that was awarded to me will not cover my travel expenses. Is it possible to get reconsidered to receive more money from this program?
No. All decisions are final. The OISE Graduate Students Conference Travel Program is NOT meant to be a primary source of funding. We strongly encourage graduate students to seek out and secure additional funding sources.
You may be able to find additional funding through:
1) faculty research projects;
2) the GSA travel program;
3) the SGS travel program.
I have still not heard back from the conference organizers as to whether or not my proposal was accepted. Can I still apply for conference funding?
In cases where students have not yet heard from the conference organizers by the deadline date above, students may submit documentation that proves they have submitted a proposal. This documentation should be in the form of an email that was sent to the conference organizers.
No. Late applications will only be considered under exceptional circumstances, for example when the student can provide evidence that the conference was announced past the appropriate deadline. The program does not currently maintain a waiting list or have provision for funding late applications.
How will I know if I’ve been approved for funding?
An email will be sent out to all students who have applied for conference funding informing them whether or not they have been approved. We aim to contact applicant within 2 weeks of the deadline date. Please note that the email will be sent to the address that was provided on the application form (if left blank, the student will not be contacted).
Yes, a cap of $1,000 for each student will be applied for the fiscal year from May 1st to April 30th. You may apply for as many conferences during the year, but once the maximum is claimed you will no longer have access to funding for the rest of the year.
I will be chairing a session at a conference. Can I apply to receive travel funding?
No, only students who are presenting a peer-reviewed paper or poster at a conference are eligible to apply for the travel grant funding.
Yes, you are still eligible to receive a travel grant from our office.
The deadline to apply falls on a weekend/Holiday. When must the application be submitted?
If the deadline falls on a weekend or UofT holiday, we will accept applications until the next business day following the weekend or holiday.
The conference I wish to attend falls between two funding rounds, which deadline do I need to apply for?
The appropriate round and deadline is determined by the start date of the conference.
After the conference is over, present your original receipts to your departmental business officer to access the approved funds within 30 days of the last day of the conference. After 30 days your funding is expired and you are not able to submit a claim.
What am I eligible to claim for travel expenses?
Eligible travel expenses for the OISE Graduate Students Conference Travel Program are: flight, hotel accommodation, railway, bus, per diem and conference registration fees. Please note that all expenses must also be in compliance with the U of T policy.
Your supervisor is the person that needs to sign in that section (if you do not have a supervisor then your advisor would suffice).
Contacts:
Suzanne Micallef
Room 9-192
Lynette Lobo
Room 10-278
(416) 978-0152 or lynette.lobo@utoronto.ca
Jun Cheng
Room 12-220
(416) 978-0500 or j.cheng@utoronto.ca
Joanne Bedasie
Room 6-285
(416) 978-0728 or joanne.bedasie@utoronto.ca