Student and Postdoc Travel Award

Objective of the Grant: The Travel Award provides funds to assist graduate students and Postdoctoral Fellows working in labs within the UAlbany system traveling to conferences and/or seminars to present a poster or give an oral presentation. The poster or presentation must address research on RNA metabolism and/or RNA binding proteins, or use RNA as a tool (siRNA, shRNA, miRNA, RNAi, etc). The award is not intended to support attending courses at other schools, research or general educational travel.

Eligibility: Graduate students and post-docs are eligible to receive a maximum of $600. This amount can be used towards one conference. Applications will not be accepted for conferences attended prior to the award date. Preference will be given to senior graduate students and/or graduate students who have not attended a meeting previously. Applicants must have received commitments from other University sources (such as the faculty mentor, home department or school) to cover the remaining costs of the conference or seminar. Only one award will be awarded per academic year per awardee.

Faculty Mentor Approval & Commitment: A letter of support from the faculty mentor to provide the remainder of the meeting costs must be submitted with the application.

Questions: Please contact Jen Montimurro at jmontimurro@albany.edu or call 437-4443 with any questions. Please include your name, department, contact information, and faculty mentor in all messages.

Award Amount: The maximum Student Travel Award is $600. The money for each round must be spent prior to the next round of the award. For accounting purposes, reimbursement requests for the April 1st round must be received in the Accounting Office by July 31, 2013. It is important that The RNA Institute be recognized on the poster or presentation as a funding source along with other funding sources.

Covered Costs: Conference Travel Grants will only cover the following items: conference registration fees, transportation to/from meeting, lodging, food, and ground transportation while attending the conference. Students are expected to find the most reasonable and economical lodging and transportation. For instance, students are encouraged to share a room, and it is expected that students partake of meals provided as part of the conference rather than incurring additional expenses. Examples of non-covered expenses include: proposal submission and optional pre-conference fees, poster printing, mailing expenses, and internet access while traveling. Do not include non-covered expenses in the application budget. Air and rail fares must be booked through a University approved travel agency.

Air and rail fares must be booked through a University approved travel agency. Air, rail and conference registration fees can be paid directly using The RNA Institute account by coordinating with Jen Montimurro at jmontimurro@albany.edu or 437-4443; however, cash advances will not be provided. Expenses for hotel, food, taxis, etc., are to be paid with the student’s personal funds and will be reimbursed upon filing of a properly completed Travel Reimbursement form with original receipts.

Following are links to the State Accounting General Travel Procedures and Travel Reimbursement Procedures

Application Deadline:

Application Deadlines	September 20	January 4	March 20
Award Date	October 1	January 15	April 1
Eligible Conference Dates for each Award Date	October 1 - January 14	January 15- May 31	After March 31

 

Award Notification: Each student will receive an email notification both when the online application is received and when The RNA Institute gives the final approval. The entire process should take between 3-10 business days once decisions for the award have been made.

Reimbursement:Air travel must be booked through one of the State Contracted travel agents and can be direct billed to The RNA Institute account. The State Accounting Travel Procedures for car rentals should be followed. Funds are distributed to the student. Reimbursements should be submitted to Jen Montimurro in LSRB 1085 upon the completion of travel.

Application Instructions:

1. The application must be submitted as a single PDF to Jen Montimurro at jmontimurro@albany.edu.
   
2. Each application should include the following components:
1. Applicant Information:  name, academic title, expected degree (MS/PhD) and anticipated year of graduation (for graduate students), department, campus address, campus phone number, faculty mentor
2. Conference Information: conference name, location, date(s), sponsoring organization name, itemized budget along with a brief explanation, amount requested, type of professional organization (international, national, regional)
3. Category of participation (oral presentation or poster), title, abstract (350 words maximum), statement of relevance to RNA science (150 words maximum), and a faculty letter of support to provide the remainder of the costs.
4. A signed letter of support from the faculty mentor to provide the remainder of the meeting costs.
   
3. An email confirmation will then be sent to you.