Conferences
Limited funds are available to students traveling to conferences to give papers or to attend professional development or networking conferences. Students apply for funding in two rounds, one in the spring for travel between January and June, the other in fall for travel between July and December. Funding for research or fieldwork is available from the Graduate School: https://www.umass.edu/graduate/funding/internal-funding. The Eastern Economic Association (EEA) holds its annual conference each spring. A limited number of EEA travel grants are available from the department. Applications for EEA grants are applied for, and reviewed, separately from other conference travel grants. See below.
Travel Registration
All overseas, all domestic overnight, all same-day out-of-state travel on University business needs to be pre-registered in Concur:
See this President’s Office website for instructions:
Link to President's Office website
Do not try to book travel (i.e., don’t buy airline tickets or reserve hotel rooms) in Concur.
In brief, you’ll register your travel in 2 or 3 steps. The President’s Office wants you to do this at least 3 weeks before you travel:
1. Only for international travel, complete an International Pre-Travel Export Control and Risk Form.
2. Create a pre-travel authorization request in Concur. If required, attach the completed Export Control and Risk form to the Concur request. I can do this on your behalf (as your delegate) if you give me your travel information and, if required, your Export Control and Risk form.
3. After your Concur pre-travel request is approved, register your travel by sending an email to Healix.com. Healix needs a booking confirmation. Follow the instructions on the President's Office website. If you don’t have a booking confirmation, get in touch with me for a work-around. I can do this step for you if you need me to.
Workshops
Students interested in attending on-campus workshops relevant to their work, in particular the methodology workshops sponsored by the Institute for Social Science Research, may apply to the department for partial (typically 75%) reimbursement of the registration fee. Look for the application form lower down on this web page. Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis till funds run out. Students will be limited to reimbursements for one workshop per session (fall, winter, spring, summer).
Conference Travel Grant Application
Twice a year students are invited to apply for conference travel funding, once in early February for travel between January and June, and once in late September for travel between July and December. Please note that if you plan to travel during either period you should apply even if your plans are not finalized. So, for example, if you have submitted an abstract for a conference and it has not been accepted yet or the deadline date is later this year, you should make an application for funding. It is easier to reallocate funds than to find new funds if you get an acceptance later in the year.
Current UMass Economics graduate students may apply for a Conference Travel Grant by completing the Google form here:
Application for Conference Travel Grant
Guidelines
1. The Graduate School offers grants to fund pre-dissertation research, dissertation research, and dissertation fieldwork. The department will no longer fund research travel. Students interested in research funding may find more information at https://www.umass.edu/graduate/funding/internal-funding.
2. The department will only fund attendance to conferences where students are presenting or to professional development conferences where papers are not presented.
3. Students will be eligible for travel funds between their third and sixth years. Exceptional requests for funds before the third year, or after the sixth year, will be evaluated based on letters from the student and advisor attesting to the importance of the specific trip to the student’s graduate career at that particular time.
4. The department will impose the following limits on funds.
a. A yearly limit of $1000 per person
b. A lifetime limit of $3000 per person
5. In each allocation period applicants will be ranked based on the following:
a. Remaining lifetime balance with those with larger balances (representing less travel done so far) ranked at the top.
b. Years in program (priority to older students)
c. Number of trips previously taken
6. Funding received prior to August 2019 will not count against students' annual or lifetime limits
7. Students will be allocated 75% of request until funds are exhausted for the period.
EEA Conference Travel Grant Application
The Eastern Economic Association holds its annual conference each spring. Students may apply for a limited number of grants (normally $400) with preference given to presenters, discussants, chairs, and registrants, in that order. Funding for the Easterns is not included in the annual and lifetime limits attached to Conference Travel. More information about the EEA and its conference may be found here: https://www.ramapo.edu/eea/
Current UMass Economics graduate students may apply for an EEA Conference grant by submitting this Google form by February 19:
Workshop Grant Application
Students interested in attending an on-campus workshop relevant to their work in the program may apply for a grant to cover part (typically 75%) of the registration fee. Workshop funds are included in the annual and lifetime limits for Conference and Workshop Funding.
Students may find information on ISSR workshops here: https://www.umass.edu/issr/all-workshops
UMass Economics graduate students who would like to apply for workshop funding should complete this Google form:
at least two weeks before the workshop is scheduled to begin. Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis till funds run out. Students will be limited to refunds for one workshop per session (fall, winter, spring, summer).