Graduate Division
Office of the Vice Provost & Dean
To: Deans, Directors, Department Chairs, and Faculty
Dear Colleague,
As a faculty member, you know how important it is for graduate students to present their work at conferences, build professional networks, and develop skills relevant to achieving their career goals. To encourage these activities, the Graduate Division is launching a new Conference, Research and Professional Development Travel Grant Program.
Effective July 1, 2016, new and continuing UCLA doctoral students will be eligible to request up to $1,000 to reimburse travel expenses for attending professional conferences, engaging in off-campus fieldwork or collaborative research, or taking advantage of off-campus professional development opportunities. The reimbursement can be used, in whole or in part, at any time through the seventh year of enrollment in the doctoral program. Details are available in the Graduate Student Financial Support for Continuing Students guide.
Doctoral students entering this fall and each term thereafter will begin their UCLA studies with a $1000 grant. Students who have already been awarded travel funds through the Cota-Robles2, Graduate Summer Research Mentorship (GSRM), Graduate Research Mentorship (GRM), or the Graduate Division’s Research Travel Grant Program, or who have already received conference travel research funding from their department that utilized Graduate Division funds, will be eligible for the difference between $1,000 and the sum of the travel funds already awarded. For example, if Susie Bruin received $500 reimbursement from her GRM and $200 from her department’s Graduate Division travel funds, she will be eligible for up to $300 through this new program.
I encourage you to talk with the students you mentor about how and when they can make best use of the travel funds. You may also wish to share information about this initiative with prospective students whom you would like to recruit to UCLA.
If you have questions concerning procedures or deadlines, please contact the Graduate Division’s Fellowships and Financial Services Office at (310) 825-1025 or via email: uclafellowship@grad.ucla.edu.
For information on career and professional development opportunities for UCLA graduate students and postdoctoral scholars, please visit http://grad.ucla.edu/careerhub/.
Providing $1000 per doctoral student is just a start. I’ve learned from you and your students that there is a great unmet need for travel funds. Going forward, we would like to provide more and to expand eligibility to master’s degree students. Please join me in encouraging prospective donors to contribute to this effort. A modest gift for graduate support can lead to a transformational experience.
Thank you for all that you do for our graduate student community.
With best regards,
Robin L. Garrell
Vice Provost for Graduate Education
Dean, Graduate Division