Graduate Student Travel Awards

The College of Graduate Studies is pleased to offer Graduate Student Travel Awards (GSTA). This award is open to any matriculated graduate student in good academic standing at SJSU who wishes to apply and may be used to support travel to collect data for a program-related RSCA project or to present their RSCA work at a conference or similar venue. When presenting at a conference, the GSTA may be used for registration fees and other travel costs associated with virtual (up to $500) or in-person up to $1,500) or an in-person international congress (up to $2,000). Applications are submitted via this application form and will be reviewed by the College of Graduate Studies in the order they are received. Please submit applications no later than 3 weeks before the travel date for domestic travel and 6 weeks before travel for international travel to ensure a timely review. Note that the GSTA will only pay the approved award amount and only for an award approved prior to travel.

Normally, approved travel expenses are reimbursed following travel. However, if paying for the travel in advance is an economic hardship, please contact us here, and we may be able to assist.

Applications for travel awards will be evaluated based on the following priorities:

  • Highest priority – travel to collect data or visit an archive or site to advance an active, graduate program-related RSCA project, or to present at a conference where the presenter was invited to present.
  • High priority – travel to provide a contributed talk or perform the student’s RSCA work at a conference or similar disciplinary venue.
  • Lower priority – travel to present a poster at a conference or similar disciplinary venue.
  • Not awarded – Students wishing only to attend a conference are not eligible for a travel award. Funds for travel that does not advance the student’s graduate education will not be considered. Travel for study abroad programs is not eligible for this award. Preference will be given to travel that significantly benefits your graduate education. Please note that the description of how the travel will benefit your graduate education that you submit in your application will be used to assess the merit of your proposal.

Rules, Requirements, and Restrictions

  • A student will be awarded at most one GSTA during their graduate career at SJSU.
  • Applicants must attach their research advisor's confimation (memo or email) of travel support when filing their application. The advisor must be a tenured or tenure-track faculty member.
  • Travel awards are limited to the actual expenses, but in no case more than $1,500 for domestic travel and $2,000 for international travel. 
  • Applicants will be asked to provide full information of proposed work for travel to visit sites to advance an active research project or provide proof of invitation to present at a conference.
  • In all cases where an award request is above $300, the applicant’s listed RSCA advisor will be sent a memo to 1) approve the travel request, and 2) determine if the advisor, department, or college can match funding requests.
  • Only one student per advisor may be awarded travel per fiscal year; however,
    -If an advisor is able to cost match for the student’s travel, one additional student for that advisor may be eligible for an award. 
    -If multiple students apply simultaneously, the advisor will be contacted and may either: choose one applicant for the maximum funding amount or split the maximum funding amount among all applicants.
  • Partial funding through this program may be supplemented by travel funds from other sources* but in such cases documentation must be provided to assure that the various sources are not funding the same specific expense.
  • Award recipients will be required to create an Open Research and Contributor ID (ORCiD) account. Registration is free and an account can be created here.
  • Students must adhere to SJSU and CSU travel policies. More information can be found at the SJSU Finance and Business Services website. Also refer to the Travel FAQ page which includes details about virtual/webinar travel. 

California Assembly Bill 1887 is state legislation that prohibits state funds from being used to travel to states with discriminatory laws. Therefore the College of Graduate Studies will not provide awards for states on the banned travel list.


*Other sources of funding to support graduate student travel include:

  • Faculty Extramural Grants
  • Department or College Travel Funds
  • Student Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity (RSCA) Grants
  • Associated Students Travel Fund (request funds here)
  • Conferences often have travel award programs for students
  • COAST
  • CSUPERB