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- Funding for Travel & Study Abroad
Graduate Funding Information Service: Funding for Travel & Study Abroad
Online guide and resources for graduate students looking for funding opportunities.
Using Databases to Find Travel Funding
The opportunities on this page of the guide are great places to start when looking for travel funding, including funding for international research, conference travel, language study, or study abroad programs.
Funding databases can also help find travel funding opportunities more specific to your needs, or other funding types you may be able to apply to the cost of travel.
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Grant ForwardFeatures a "travel" grant type, as well as a "workshop/conference" grant type for ease of searching.
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UCLA Graduate and Postdoctoral Extramural Support (GRAPES) DatabaseA publicly available database that includes travel funding and conference travel support.
Research and Study Abroad
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UW Study Abroad OfficeCurated lists of funding opportunities based on academic level and location, as well as other online resources.
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UW Independent Learning Enrollment OptionIf you are interested in independent research, internships, practicums, clerkships, or fellowship programs abroad, you can apply for Independent Learning through UW Study Abroad. By enrolling in Independent Learning you maintain your UW students status and enrollment for your period of study abroad but do not pay tuition or program fees for credits earned. Instead, you pay a flat administrative fee ($325 per quarter starting in Summer 2016).
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Fulbright ProgramsThe Fulbright U.S. Student Program is the largest U.S. exchange program offering opportunities for students and young professionals to undertake international graduate study, advanced research, university teaching, and primary and secondary school teaching worldwide. The link above addresses UW internal procedures for Fulbright applicants, including campus deadlines. For general information about the Fulbright programs, see http://www.iie.org/fulbright
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UC Berkeley Summary of External Travel GrantsA table summarizing major programs funding travel and research.
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Foundation for Global ScholarsScholarships up to $2000 for undergraduate, graduate, or professional degree program students studying abroad for at least 4 weeks. Three application cycles per year.
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Diversity Abroad's Scholarships & GrantsDiversity Abroad has partnered with several organizations to offer study abroad scholarships and grants. See the website for a current list of scholarships offered through Diversity Abroad.
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UNESCO Guide to International Higher Education Study and ScholarshipsThis UNESCO international guide to higher-education study opportunities and scholarships offered by higher education institutions and international organizations in 129 countries includes 2,659 entries on courses and scholarships in different higher-education academic and professional disciplines. While this guide is dated, the information may be useful to graduate students considering collaboration with or research at an institution of higher education while abroad.
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Timmissartok FoundationThe Timmissartok Foundation was founded in 2000 to assist individuals with adventurous projects that will take place in a foreign country. The Foundation will partially support projects that involve “travel with a purpose” in which a particular passion is to be explored.
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Studyabroad.comA search tool for finding additional study abroad scholarships.
Language Study
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Foreign Language & Areas Studies (FLAS) FellowshipFellowships for advanced training in Canadian, East-, Central-, South-, and Southeast Asian, Middle Eastern, Russian and Eastern European and Western European Area Studies. For graduate and professional students who are U.S. citizens or permanent residents. Academic year awards are for language and area studies. Summer fellowships are solely to support intensive language study.
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Critical Language ScholarshipFully-funded overseas language and cultural immersion program for American undergraduate and graduate students in the following languages: Arabic, Azerbaijani, Bangla, Chinese, Hindi, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Persian, Punjabi, Russian, Turkish, and Urdu.
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Boren FellowshipBoren Fellowships, an initiative of the National Security Education Program, provide unique funding opportunities for U.S. graduate students to study less commonly taught languages in world regions critical to U.S. interests, and underrepresented in study abroad, including Africa, Asia, Central and Eastern Europe, Eurasia, Latin America, and the Middle East. The countries of Western Europe, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand are excluded. Boren Fellowships provide up to $24,000 for overseas study. In addition, Boren Fellowships can provide limited funding for domestic language study that will supplement the overseas component. The maximum award for a combined overseas and domestic program is $30,000. Awards for a minimum of 12 weeks and maximum of 24 months.
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Blakemore Freeman FellowshipGrants that fund an academic year of advanced language study abroad of Chinese, Japanese, Korean and selected Southeast Asian languages. An applicant must have (at minimum) a bachelor's degree and have completed at least three years of study of the language at the college level by the start of the grant.
Conference Travel Funding
In addition to any funding available from your department, there are two major sources for conference travel available from UW. If you are presenting at a national or international conference, these opportunities will help fund your travel and often have a quick application process. Be mindful of narrow application windows (dependent on the dates of your conference) for these funding opportunities!
If you are not presenting at the conference you hope to attend, see if the national level or your local chapter of the sponsoring organization offers a "first time attendee" or "professional development" scholarship. Many professional and academic conferences often discounted student rates, and some may waive registration fees partially or in full if you commit to a few hours of volunteering at the conference.
You can also look for travel, workshop, and conference funding in the funding databases recommended on this guide.
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Graduate & Professional Student Senate Travel Grants (GPSS)You may apply directly for a GPSS travel grant, which are awarded throughout the year (including summer quarter).
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Graduate Student Conference Travel AwardsStudents wishing to request travel awards should contact their departments for instructions and internal policies and procedures.