Whether they’re traveling to Munich or just to downtown Philadelphia, Penn graduate students can apply to be funded by travel grants.
The Research Council of the Graduate and Professional Student Assembly recently provided over 80 applicants with grants for the spring. The recipients — students from the seven research schools — will present their work at conferences around the world.
“Our goal is to provide significant support to as many qualified students as possible,” Vice Chair for Research Students Henry Friedman wrote in an e-mail.
The Council that selects the students consists of representatives from Penn’s doctoral and research master’s programs.
They review a short set of questions, a cover letter and a recommendation from a Penn faculty member.
“The general form was super easy and took about ten minutes to fill out,” said Andy Fenelon, a third-year demography and sociology student in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.
Fenelon received a travel grant to attend an annual demography conference in Dallas this April.
It’s “really the only chance” for people to go and present their work in a conference format and get feedback, Fenelon said.
“Of course, flying to Dallas and staying there for several days costs a lot of money that my program does not have,” he added. “I wouldn’t have been able to go without the funding.”
Fenelon plans to discuss mortality related to smoking in the United States in his presentation and will be joined in Dallas by almost half the members of his program here.
“I know at least five or six of those people applied for GAPSA funding,” he said.
Beyond Dallas, Penn research students have attended international conferences in locations spanning from Europe to Asia.
These grants not only improve the quality of students’ research and connections to the broader academic community, but they also boost Penn’s global reputation as a research university.
“Which in the long run,” Friedman wrote, “can help us attract high-quality faculty and students.”
The funding from GAPSA comes from the general fees paid by students, the Provost’s office and Penn President Amy Gutmann.
For the next five years, funding for travel grants will come directly from money Gutmann was awarded by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.
In addition to grants provided for research graduate students, GAPSA also offers funding for professional students, such as those in the Law School and the School of Medicine.
Jade Palomino, GAPSA vice chair for professional students, reads six to seven grant applications per week.
Similar to the research grant committee, GAPSA does not take financial history into consideration at all, Palomino said.
“If financial issues are relevant, the students can bring that up in their applications,” she added. “We make sure that attending the conference will really benefit each individual grant recipient.”
