Funding

Each year, the GSA funds three different programs which provide monies for graduate student activities.  In all cases, funds must be secured before the research or event occurs.

There are three funding periods: Fall, Spring and Summer.  Each program currently is allotted $5000.00 to distribute to deserving applications for each period.  There is no minimum or maximum amount of funding for each project.  Please keep in mind, however, that there are usually many applications during each round.

General Overview

GSA Research Expense Grants (GSA REGs) help graduate students to fund small-scale research projects and conference travel (when other conference travel monies have been exhausted.) 

GSA Special Funding Grants help to fund projects and programs that benefit a wide variety of graduate students (as opposed to supporting the work of just one.)  There are two types of Special Funding Grants: Academic and Intellectual Endeavor Grants (AIE) and Social, Student and Community Development Grants (SSCD.)

The Details

Research Expense Grants

The purpose of the REGs is to support and facilitate  graduate student research initiatives.  The program is modeled after the Research Expense Grant program for university faculty.  REGs are designed to help offset the costs associated with scholarly research that is not directly funded by other agencies, schools/departments within the university, and/or grants to advising faculty members.  Examples of such expenses include, but are not limited to, payment for: library cards, travel to libraries, photocopying at libraries, assistance in data collection and coding, reproducing and administering questionnaires, and purchase of expendable laboratory materials.  The REG program does not fund the following expenses:

Transcription (unless the applicant has a disability such as sight or hearing impairment)

Hourly wages for undergraduate student research assistants

No usual and customary personal expenses (such as rent)

No usual and customary research expenses (such as transcription, data analysis and data entry).  The only exception is for transcription in cases where the applicant has a disability such as sight or hearing impairment)

Resources available for free on campus (such as software, books, etc)

Note: For the fall 2007 grant cycle we are accepting applications for REGs to fund conference attendance.  Applications for conference funding must fulfill the following requirements.  We will fund up to $250 for conferences in the continental US and up to $500 for all other conference locations

2007-2008 Deadlines for REG Applications are: October 19th, 2007; January 25th, 2007; and April 25th, 2008. 

The REG application is available on-line.  Once you have completed the form, please email it to gsa.reg@gmail.com.

Special Funding Grants

Academic and Intellectual Endeavor Grants.  The purpose of the AIE grants is to facilitate programming that speaks to and facilitates the academic and intellectual life of graduate students.  We traditionally fund a number of interdisciplinary graduate student conferences, workshops and talks each year.  We hope to fund a broader range of projects this year.  Projects funding by AIE grants must be accessible to a broad body of graduate students. 

Student, Social and Community Development Grants.  The purpose of the SSCD grants is to facilitate programming that speaks to and enhances graduate student life, in terms of social and community development.  In the past, we have funded road races, culture days, immersion and service trips, etc.  We hope to fund a broader range of projects this year.

Please note: Special Funding Grants do not fund expenses for directly related to credit bearing work.  For example, there are a number of credit bearing classes on campus that include a travel component.  The program does not fund expenses related to that travel, even if the purpose of the travel is service.  Nor does the program fund projects for individual students.  All financial requests for individual students must be funneled through the REG program. 2007-2008 Deadlines for Special Funding Grant Applications are: October 19th, 2007; November 26th, 2007 (PLEASE NOTE THE EXTENDED DEADLINE!); January 25th, 2007; and March 25th, 2007.

The AIE Grant application and SSCD Grant application are available on-line.  Once you have completed the appropriate form, please email it to gsa.aiesscd@gmail.com.  Grant applications are in .rtf format.  If you click on the link and it appears as a .pdf, please refresh your browser.

The Review Process and Some Important Things to Keep in Mind

Our goal is to get money into the hands of graduate students who are doing great things, so that they can do even better things.  In the process of doing this, we strive for a fair and balanced review process.  To achieve such a review process we have some specific ways of doing things.  We want you to be aware of our process.

There are two committees which review grants - one for Research Expense Grants and one for Special Funding Grants.  All grants are reviewed by a multi-disciplinary committee whose members are part of the GSA Council.  Each committee is organized by a Chair who is responsible for communicating with applicants and grantees, overseeing the distribution of completed grant applications to committee members and running the committee meetings.  Members of the GSA Executive Board also serve on the committees in a largely advisory role. 

During each round, there are deserving applications that do not receive funding.  If your grant does not receive funding, you will be provided with an explanation of why the grant did not get funding and things you can do to improve the grant.  You should consider these comments and re-apply for funding.  Sometimes, the committee's comments will make total sense to you, and sometimes you might think the committee's comments are nuts.  Remember, it's a multi-disciplinary committee, so you need to sell your work, or your project, or your event, to a diverse group of folks.

Grant applications are reviewed blind.  Once you send your materials to us, the Chair of the committee removes your name and Eagle ID number (which are both required for the application) before distributing copies of your grant to the committee members.  It is sometimes the case that members of the REG committee are in the same department, or know well, the applicant and can figure out who the person is based on the other application materials.  In these cases, the committee member in question participates in the discussion of the application but abstains from all other parts of the decision-making process about the grant in question.

Finally, a word about deadlines.  Deadlines are deadlines.  Any application that is received after a given grant deadline will be reviewed in the next round.  No exceptions.  Keep this in mind and apply early.