Postdoctoral Scholar Travel Award

The Faculty of Graduate & Postdoctoral Studies (GPS), offers postdoctoral scholar travel awards to financially support postdoctoral scholars who travel in the interests of disseminating the results of research undertaken at the University of Alberta. GPS has organized the travel award funds to give postdoctoral scholars one opportunity for travel assistance as a postdoctoral scholar at the U of A.

Allocations

Travel award funding is not a guaranteed source of funding for postdoctoral  scholars and is subject to availability. This offer of financial support is intended to assist with the cost of travel expenses for postdoctoral scholars' active participation at a conference. Postdoctoral scholars should not make travel plans with the expectation that funding will be available.

It is the postdoctoral scholar’s responsibility to ensure that their application is complete and successfully submitted to GPS by emailing their application form and required documentation to grad.awards@ualberta.ca. 

GPS will offer as many travel awards as the annual budget will support, and will be awarded on a first-come-first-served basis. Once funding is expended, applications will no longer be accepted. GPS will offer awards until allocated funding is expended in the specified periods:

Travel times and applications dates

For travel which starts between:	Applications will be accepted beginning:
April 1, 2024 - March 31, 2025	December 12, 2024

Value

Up to $2,000

Eligibility

• Postdoctoral scholars must be actively participating at the conference by presenting a paper, poster session or participating in a panel discussion or exhibiting their work. The travel fund cannot provide support where students are attending only as an observer.
• The presented work must be a result of the research undertaken at the U of A and must be during the related postdoctoral appointment.  
• Must hold a current postdoctoral scholar appointment at the U of A, categorized as a postdoctoral employee or postdoctoral trainee.
• The applicant must not have previously received a postdoctoral scholar travel award during their time as a postdoc at the U of A. This allowance is limited to one award for the entire duration of the applicant’s employment as a postdoctoral scholar at the U of A, including all appointments.

Application Procedure

• Submitting an application package does not denote acceptance of the application, nor guarantee available funds.
• Applicants will be notified by email once the application has been processed and a decision has been made.
• Incomplete applications will be rejected and postdoctoral scholars will be required to re-apply once the application is complete.
• It is the applicant's responsibility to review their application for completeness and eligibility before submission.

1. Complete the Postdoctoral Scholar Travel Award application form.
   Application fields must be completed in their entirety; missing information will result in the application being deemed incomplete and will be rejected.
2. Provide the following Conference Travel Supporting Documents:
   • Documentation from the conference organizers confirming postdoctoral scholar's poster or paper has been accepted for presentation or a letter of invitation to participate in a panel discussion or to exhibit their work.
   • Documentation from the conference organizers confirming postdoc's registration; the document should outline the cost for registration and what items are included in the registration fee (meals, accommodation, etc.). Applicants must still send confirmation of registration if there is no registration fee.

   • Prior to submission, please ensure Conference Travel Supporting Documents adhere to the following criteria:

     • Supporting documents must be copies of originals.
     • Documentation sent by email must be the original print out from student's ualberta.ca email account; information copied from the body of an email and pasted into word or excel will not be accepted.
     • Confirmation letters received as an email attachment must include the organizations' particulars (organization logo, contact information, signatures, etc.).
     • Copies of flight, hotel, car rental receipts and copies of the conference program are not required.
     • Screenshots or JPEG or PNG images of the application form or supporting documents will not be accepted for submission.
3. Provide a copy of your current appointment letter as a postdoctoral scholar at the U of A.
4. Submit your application to GPS Awards Service by emailing grad.awards@ualberta.ca and attach the following documentation:
   
   • Postdoctoral Scholar Travel Award application form 
   • Applicable Conference Travel Supporting Documents 
   • Current Appointment letter 

Payment Information + Conditions

Postdoctoral scholars who are offered a GPS Postdoctoral Scholar Travel Award are not required to submit an acceptance form; payment will be initiated automatically.

Travel awards are dispersed on the pay date immediately preceding departure date, or the nearest period for which you are eligible. See Human Resources, Health, Safety + Environment’s Pay Schedules for details on pay dates. Please note that this award is taxable. 

Postdoctoral scholars who do not participate in the travel/conference that the travel award was approved to fund, or if their employee status changes, it is postdoctoral scholar's responsibility to notify the GPS in writing immediately. Postdoctoral scholars may be required to repay any travel funds received.