Contributed by @alackles. Live version on Google Docs here.

It is unbelievably convoluted to apply to travel funding here at MSU, and it has only gotten worse since the pandemic happened and we all kind of forgot how to do the thing? So here is a step-by-step.

The true limiting factor here is EEB Program Travel Funds. Every other deadline here is rolling; EEB deadline is annual, and it’s very early. But also, they need you to complete all these forms in order to apply. Additionally, they have a LOT of funds to give out, so you don’t want to miss out on these funds for the big 3 conferences (GECCO, ALife, Evolution).

Your mental deadline for summer conference funding should therefore be early February, which means you should start on all of this before you even submit to the conferences.

STEP 1: Graduate School Travel Funding Form

TL;DR – Print This:https://grad.msu.edu/sites/default/files/content/funding/Travel%20_Funding_Form_FS21.pdf

The graduate school provides one-time travel funds of up to $600 over your grad school career. These funds are applied AFTER every other kind of funding, but must be submitted WITH the rest of the funding forms.

Even if you have used all your funds, you still need to fill this form out.It’s how different units track and coordinate funds across each other.

TIP:Use this for your first international conference. If you can’t travel internationally due to a visa, use this for a conference that is sufficiently far away from Michigan (e.g. the South) or in a significantly expensive enough city (e.g. Boston, LA, DC, NYC) that it’s going to rack up over $1500 in costs.

STEP 2: PI Travel Funding

TL;DR – Try to get even a nominal amount of funding from your PI on the form.

Talk to your PI – probably Charles or Emily, if you’re here.

If your project is on a grant that has travel funding, this is where they’ll add cash promises from that. If your professor has start-up or discretionary funding, this is where they’ll add that, too.

Generally, both EEB and the graduate school are happier if your PI has added SOME amount here, even if it’s like, $100.

STEP 3: Departmental Funding

TL;DR – Bring the form to your department head for a $0 line item and a signature. Be prepared for them to be confused.

CSE does not give out departmental funding, and will in fact get very confused when you bring a form to them and ask them to sign off on this. That’s why it’s important not to wait until the last minute to bring the forms to them, and also be prepared for them to be confused.

Generally, the way around this is to explain to them, “I’m in a cross-departmental program, and to get travel funding from them, they just need to know whether my home department provides travel funding or not. If the department doesn’t, they just need you to write $0 and sign off.”

STEP 4: College Funding

TL;DR – See above.

See above, except replace department with college.

STEP 5: BEACON Funding

TL;DR – Print out the BEACON travel form and give it to Danielle, along with the master form:https://www3.beacon-center.org/for-current-beacon-members/student-travel-funds/

BEACON will generally give you $500 for domestic conferences and $1000 for international conferences, no guesswork involved.

Danielle Whittaker (djwhitta@msu.edu) handles BEACON funding requests. She’s going to want both your filled out BEACON request form AND your filled-out grad school form so she can directly add BEACON in the “Other” category on that form for you to be sent off to the grad school.

TIP:BEACON can register for your conference for you. If you send Connie James (cjames@msu.edu) the information for conference registration, she is usually able to buy a conference registration for you on the BEACON card so that you don’t have to pay for it on your own card and wait for reimbursement.

STEP 6: EEB Funding

TL;DR – Wait for the EEB Funding Form to open in February, attach your grad school form, and submit it to Barbara Bloemers.

The EEB funding form is generally sent around in February and has information about how to apply for EEB travel funds. Very few people usually apply for these awards, so they almost always give out more money than is advertised. That’s why it’s important to get your application in on time; you can end up fully funding quite a lot of conference money just with EEB.

Once you’ve completed all of the above steps, you can hand your grad school form directly to the EEB office along with the funding request. EEB doesn’t need your BEACON travel funds app, so don’t include that.