APPLICATIONS ARE OPEN.
Description
Undergraduate students whose research, scholarship, or creative work has been accepted for presentation at a professional or academic conference may apply for up to $1,000 in PURA Travel Award funding. Please read all rules, eligibility requirements, and application procedures below before applying. Note that PURA Travel Awards are not stipends or scholarships; students receive awarded funds after submitting reimbursement paperwork with supporting receipts.
IMPORTANT! New for 2024:
As part of the PURA Travel Award program, students must attend a workshop offered by UROP prior to their travel dates. This workshop covers what to expect at a professional conference and how to get the most out of your conference experience. During AY24-25, we are offering in-person workshops every three weeks on Tuesdays at 11 am. You will register for a workshop date within the application form. After the conference, students must submit a post-conference reflection on their experience.
Rules and Eligibility
- Applicant must be a Georgia Tech undergraduate student in good standing (GPA > 2.0).
- The research, scholarship, or creative work to be presented must be associated with a Georgia Tech or GTRI faculty mentor, who will submit a mentor confirmation form. Graduate student or postdoctoral mentors cannot complete the confirmation form.
- Students must submit their work to the conference or meeting while enrolled as a Georgia Tech undergraduate student.
- Funding can only be awarded to students who have already been accepted to give an oral presentation, poster presentation, or exhibit their work in another medium that is professionally accepted in their field of study.
- Requested funding may not exceed $1,000. If you anticipate costs above this amount, we encourage you to seek additional funding from other sources. You can accept travel funding from multiple sources if you receive a PURA Travel Award. Some other sources of travel funds include:
- Students may receive only one PURA Travel Award per academic term (Fall, Spring, Summer).
- PURA Salary Award students can apply for PURA Travel Award funding during their Salary Award period.
- As detailed above, students must attend a workshop offered by UROP prior to their travel dates. If you cannot attend any of the dates listed, contact urop@gatech.edu.
- As detailed above, after returning from the conference, students must submit a post-conference reflection within 14 days.
How to Apply
PURA Travel Award applications are accepted on a rolling basis. Submit your application here using the online application form at least one month prior to the conference date. Within the application form, fill out the requested fields and select a workshop date (if you cannot attend any of the dates listed, contact urop@gatech.edu before submitting the form). Upload a single PDF file with the following sections:
- An overview of the work to be presented, including format of presentation (poster, oral, performance, other)
- Information on the conference, including conference name, location, and dates
- 2-3 goals for your participation in the conference (in other words, what are you hoping to get out of this experience?)
- Itemized budget (registration fees, airfare, hotel, food, rental car, etc.)
- Confirmation that your work has been accepted for presentation at the conference, indicated by one of the following:
- Screenshot of conference program listing your presentation
- Email from conference organizers stating your acceptance
- Screenshot of conference website showing your presentation
Mentor Confirmation Form
Beginning in 2024, instead of requesting a letter of recommendation from your faculty mentor, UROP will ask them to complete a brief confirmation form. Once you submit your PURA Travel Award application, an email will be automatically sent to the faculty mentor listed in your form to inform them of your application and ask them to complete the mentor confirmation form. You must list a full-time Georgia Tech faculty member whose primary affiliation is Georgia Tech. If you have questions about this, contact urop@gatech.edu.
Please note: PURA Travel Award applications are considered incomplete until a mentor confirmation form is received from a faculty member whose primary affiliation is Georgia Tech.
Post-conference Reflection
Within 14 days of returning from your conference, submit a reflection on your conference experience using the online form here. In your reflection, please include the following:
- your name and the semester of your travel award
- the details of your conference (conference name, location, dates)
- your expectations going into the conference
- your 2-3 goals for your conference experience, what you did at the conference towards those goals, and your successes and challenges in achieving your goals
- your advice to other students on how to get the most out of a conference experience
- any feedback on the pre-conference workshop offered by UROP