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Current Students

PhD Student Travel Assistance

Policy updated August 2025.

The HCDE student conference travel support program is intended to provide opportunities for HCDE PhD students to become familiar with, and participate in the life of, their academic field. This program is supported by the generosity of donors to the Mary B. Coney fund, among other sources. 

HCDE master's and bachelor's students are not supported by this program (those students should see BS&MS Travel).

Overview

  • HCDE doctoral students receive $3000 in travel funds upon matriculation and an additional $3000 on achieving candidacy. Funds roll over.
  • Available funds for doctoral students enrolled in the program before autumn 2022 were determined based on year in the program and whether they have completed generals.

Eligibility

  1. The student must be in good academic standing in HCDE (not on probation);
  2. the student must have the support of their faculty advisor, rotation mentor, or the PhD chair to attend the particular conference, and;
  3. all conference travel and reimbursement will be completed while still enrolled in the HCDE program. Exceptions: With advisor approval, students have access to this funding when on short-term leaves or internships. Also with advisor approval, graduating students may access funds up to a quarter after their graduation, when sharing research published with their HCDE affiliation. 

Process

We recommend that you begin preparing for your conference request at least a month before the conference. The earlier you request, the more opportunities for funding there might be, and the more time there will be to clarify information.

Step 1. Talk with your advisor(s), rotation mentor(s), and/or principal investigator on any grants that supported the work about your travel early (e.g., when submitting a paper or first considering attending a conference), to discuss how the conference may support your goals, as well as if other funding sources (e.g., grants) may be available to support attendance.

Step 2. Have your faculty advisor send you an email stating one of the following:
(A) They approve your request of Travel Funds and there is no alternative funding available, OR;
(B) They approve your request of Travel Funds and there are additional grant or other funds available

If (B), then email must include i. what the work tag(s) for the fund(s) is/are AND ii. what the fund name is AND iii. how much (specific $ amount) will be coming out of each grant for this conference request.

You will be asked to attach a screenshot of this email in the forms you'll be submitting.

Step 3. Some planning tools you can use at this point:

  • If you find it helpful, you may use this pdf to plan out your budget when you're planning (do not submit this anywhere; planning purposes only).
  • You can view your available pool of funds here (UW login required).

Step 4. Due to budget constraints, the first step to conference funding being approved is filling out a Dean's Office form.

Step 5. If you receive an email from the Dean's Office with their approval of your funding request, then screenshot it.

Step 6. You will then need to fill out this form: HCDE PhD Travel Request form to get HCDE Approval. (Within this form, you will be attaching the Dean's Office screenshot.)

Note on timing: If you're presenting at a conference and you submit the HCDE travel request form at least a week before the conference, HCDE will request an additional $300 (domestic) or $500 (international) from the graduate school (GSTA) on the student’s behalf. GSTA funding is not guaranteed, but if you did receive GSTA funding, it would mean you'd spend less of your PhD travel funds allocation on this. So the earlier you request funding, the better.

Note on VISA Costs and Accessibility Costs: HCDE recognizes that visa expenses or accessibility needs may disproportionately increase the costs associated with travel for some students. Please clearly state those types of costs under the section "Other Costs" of the HCDE travel request form and include a link to supporting documentation if possible.

Step 7. After submitting the HCDE travel request form, within ~5 business days, you will be contacted by email about the status of your request. If your request is approved, you will be given instructions on how to pursue reimbursement. Save the email in your inbox so you can be ready to pursue reimbursement once you've paid for things. 

Step 8. Reimbursement: see details about this in the section "Reimbursement Process" further down.

Step 9. Conference Experience Reports. Please write up a two–three paragraph Conference Experience Report describing your experience at the conference. An experience report can be a document with your name, describing what conference you attended through these funds, and what you gained from the conference. Photos from the conference would also be appreciated. This will be used for the News section of the HCDE website. Your Experience Reports keeps funding available for other students by demonstrating to donors what their funding contributions can lead to. Submit your Experience report by uploading it to this folder.

Award Stipulations

Alternative purposes you may use PhD conference funding for:

  1. PhD conference funds may be used to support visa-related expenditures, if required for travel to a conference or meeting.
  2. In general, PhD conference funds may not be used for courses or classes in lieu of conferences or meetings. However, travel support is meant to encourage and allow students to have the research community to engage with their work and/or for students to engage with colleagues in their field, so certain courses (e.g., a summer school to build a cohort of researchers in an area, a course or workshop at a conference) may be appropriate uses of this funding. To request funding for something like this, still submit the HCDE travel request form (form is the same as above, linked in the "Process" section).
  3. With advance approval, students may use up to $1,500 in travel grant funds, per period ($3000 total) toward publication and open access fees. Please discuss this with Dr Kate Starbird, Kathleen Rascon, and your adviser before submitting a manuscript if you are considering this option. Then cc them all in an email and ask one of them to reply to it saying that you've discussed this with everyone you needed to. You will be asked to upload a screenshot of that email thread in the HCDE travel request form (form is the same as above, linked in the "Process" section). 
    You can also check out the doctoral research grant program for other research support options.

Reimbursement process

To request a reimbursement, email the HCDE Fiscal Office at hcdefiz@uw.edu, within 45 days of completion of travel, and include the following:

  • Traveler Information
  • First/Last Name
  • Phone Number
  • Event Name (include Link to Conference Website homepage)
  • Destination (City, State, Country)
  • Purpose of Travel
  • Travel Start/End Dates
  • Summary of expenses and total amount to be reimbursed.

Attached copies of receipts for transportation, lodging, conference registration and incidentals. The following expenses have additional requirements:

  • Airfare - itemized itinerary
  • Fees related to change/cancellation of travel plans - itemized itinerary
  • Lodging - Itemized
  • Car Rental (if applicable) - FINAL rental agreement
  • Rail/Train - itemized itinerary
  • Conference/Seminar Sponsored Meal - itemized receipt/pertinent information

Some expenses, like car rentals, require prior approval. Talk with the fiscal office if you have questions.