Travel Grants

What is this? A grant for students conducting research who need funding to present at a professional meeting or conference
Who is eligible?
  • Students with Sophomore, Junior, and Senior standing
  • Students enrolled in at least one 4998/4999 credit hour during the current academic year
  • Students who have already started their projects and have material to present
  • Students who have already been accepted to present at a conference
  • Students who have NOT already received a travel grant for the current academic year

Lumen Prize winners are eligible to apply for UGR funding beyond their prize award. In the interest of balance, consideration will be given to other applicants first, given that the Lumen Prize already provides substantial support.

What is the funding? Up to $500 for individual student. However, if there are 3 or more students applying for travel grants to the same conference, we ask that faculty submit a group travel grant.
When is the deadline? Rolling (apply anytime between June and April)
How do I apply? Please note, we are putting a pause on honoring funding requests as our allocated budget has been met. However if we identify additional funds, we will honor those requests the best that we can.

Click here to access the individual travel grant form.

Click here to access the group travel grant form. Please complete and upload this document in your application for group travel grants.

This document provides information about the travel grants and what needs to be included in the forms.

The Undergraduate Research Program offers support to students incurring expenses while traveling to professional meetings and conferences. This support is intended to provide students with the opportunity to become actively involved in a professional organization as they pursue graduate studies or other postgraduate plans.

  • Students supported by travel funding are expected to be actively involved in the proceedings of the conference or meeting they choose to attend.
  • Active participation includes making oral presentations, presenting posters or participating on a panel. In fine arts fields, active participation may include performance or exhibition of a new composition.
  • Students in all majors are eligible for funding.
  • Funds may support registration, travel costs (e.g., flight, mileage, etc.), and hotel.
  • Students are only eligible to apply for one travel grant per academic year (individual or group).
  • Travel grant funding is not to be used for NCUR travel (National Conference on Undergraduate Research). See NCUR link for more info on NCUR travel grants.

Travel grants also may be used for group travel – when three or more students from a given department are traveling to the same venue. The group travel fund must be submitted and should be completed by a faculty sponsor. The Undergraduate Research Program will make a single reimbursement, usually to the faculty sponsor, with the expectation that the funds will be distributed appropriately by that person.

Barring extenuating circumstances, students who receive travel funding from the Undergraduate Research Program are expected to submit an application to present at the Spring Undergraduate Research Forum (SURF).

Note: To receive any support from the Undergraduate Research Program, applicable approval from the Institutional Review Board (IRB) must be in place before any data collection from human subjects takes place. In alignment with Federal guidelines, beginning June 1st, 2024, all investigators within our institution—comprising faculty, staff, undergraduate and graduate students, principals, and co-investigators—must have completed CITI training. For what you must complete for CITI training, please click here.

Students may not serve as a PI for an IRB study. They should work with a faculty mentor who will serve as PI and be responsible for the oversight of the study. If you have any concerns or questions or want to discuss this policy further, please email the IRB Chair, Marna Winter at mwinter2@elon.edu.

Important Links

Reimbursement Guidelines

“Undergraduate research allowed me to develop professional relationships with experts in my field and satisfied my intellectual curiosities in a way that wouldn’t have been possible in the classroom. I will be a better journalist for it.”
Deirdre Kronschnabel ’19, Journalism major