Graduate Other Sources Funding

The Graduate College provides a myriad of grants, awards, and incentives to support graduate students at OU.  

The Graduate Student Senate (GSS) offers grants to assist graduate students in research and scholarly participation. These grants are designed to encourage students to attend and/or present at professional and graduate conferences, creative exhibitions and career fairs or to facilitate scholarly research. These awards are supplementary in nature and on a reimbursement basis.

The Dodge Family College of Arts and Sciences (DFCAS) provides funds to support undergraduate and graduate student travel for research, presentation of research or other educational purposes. Although the funds available are limited, students are encouraged to submit proposals to the DFCAS. The Support of Teaching and Research Committee (a committee of faculty and students) representing the DFCAS will review the applications. Travel funds will be provided within the limits of the total money available and based on a ranking procedure using information provided in the proposal materials. Requests will be considered up to a maximum of $500 per student per trip for educational or research activity travel (as distinguished from travel to make a research presentation). Undergraduates or graduate students who are traveling to present research at a professional meeting or conference may request up to $750.

The Department of Political Science will make available limited financial support for graduate student participation in professional conferences as paper-presenters, depending on available resources. The amount of money made available each year will be determined by the department chair in August. The following guidelines apply: 

1. General Travel Funding Policies: Because money available for student travel is limited, students should not expect department funding to cover the full cost of conference attendance. While students are not limited in the number of conferences they may attend or papers they may present, they can generally expect to receive department funding for only one conference per academic year. 
   
2. Funding Requirements: Only academically significant papers will qualify for department funding, as certified by the signature of the student’s committee chair on the application form. If no committee has been formed, the Director of Graduate Studies must certify academic significance. Students must appear on the program of at least one panel as a paper presenter to apply. All students requesting department funding are also required to apply to the Graduate Student Senate (all graduate students) and Graduate College (ABD only) for funding. Attach a copy of these funding requests to the departmental submission.
   
3. Distribution of Money: Decisions on funding are made by the Department Chair in consultation with the Director of Graduate Studies. The award amount will depend on the following factors:(a) department budget, (b) quality of student’s paper, (c) number of students applying, and (d) cost of trip.

The Application Process

1. Applicants must submit a completed Student Request for Conference Funding form to the department chair of each year.
   
2. The application form should be accompanied by a copy of the acceptance letter from a representative of the conference you are attending, a copy of the conference paper, and copies of all travel receipts.
   
3. To receive departmental support, the student must make a practice presentation prior to conference attendance. The Director of Graduate Studies, or assigned staff, will assist the student in setting up the presentation.