Conference Travel Resources

The Rackham Conference Travel Grant is intended to provide opportunities for Rackham graduate students to become familiar with, and participate in the life of, their academic professions. As part of its university-wide commitment to advancing international research and training, the International Institute provides funding for 30 awards to international destinations. The remainder of the funding comes from Rackham. You must submit your applications before the first day of the conference for travel through the end of the final term of registration. The conference may occur anytime up through your final semester of registration. Applications will not be considered for retroactive funding.The Rackham Conference Travel Grant cannot be combined with the Rackham Professional Development Grant or Rackham Graduate Student Research Grant. 

Eligibility

Graduate students are eligible to apply for a Rackham Conference Travel Grant award if:

• The graduate student is in good academic standing in a Rackham degree-granting program.

• The student has responded to a formal call for abstracts.

• The student has been accepted to present a poster or paper at a conference.

Award Description

A student is eligible to receive one travel grant award (either domestic or international, but not both) during a fiscal year, which runs from July 1 to June 30, based on the start date of the conference. For students who qualify for need-based financial aid (including the child care subsidy), receipt of this Rackham award may reduce the original loan amount or subsidy. Please contact the U-M Office of Financial Aid for help evaluating your individual circumstances.

• Up to $900 for the continental United States.

• Up to $1,150 for Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Europe.

• Up to $1,400 for Africa, Asia, South America, and Australia.

Application Process

Students may visit the Rackham Conference Travel Grant application and submit the following:

• Recommendation from the faculty advisor or graduate chair as to how the conference participation is directly relevant to the student’s research or graduate studies.

• Copy of the confirmation of presentation (letter or email is acceptable) with the applicant’s name clearly listed as a presenter or performer to verify the student’s acceptance to participate in the conference.

• A budget regarding the amount of funding requested and a list of the specific expenses covered by the award.

A Rackham Professional Development Grant is intended to support Rackham doctoral students seeking careers both within and outside academia. This funding is to support short-term experiences that promote the development of professional skills which will further a student’s career goals. 

Areas May Include

• Presentation skills

• Developing, organizing, or managing a business

• Management skills

• Leadership

• Translating academic skills into non-academic careers.

Eligibility

Doctoral students enrolled in a Rackham graduate program and in good academic standing are eligible to apply. Rackham Professional Development Grants may not be used for licensure or membership fees for professional societies, for travel to a professional meeting (see Rackham Conference Travel Grant), or for specific technical training associated with a student’s research. A student may receive only one Rackham Professional Development Grant during his or her graduate program.

Requests to reimburse prior professional development activities will not be considered.

Award Description

Students may request up to $400 for each Professional Development Grant. These grants may be used to, for example, pay the registration fee for a workshop or defray the cost of travel to a professional development workshop.

IDEA: Inclusion, Diversity, Equity & Accessibility Travel Support RAS Conferences

The IEEE Robotics and Automation Society (RAS) Women in Engineering (WiE) committee launched a new initiative in 2023 to support people interested in the research field of robotics and automation. Our goal is to increase diversity in our community by facilitating access to underrepresented groups to attend one of the major IEEE RAS conferences.

This award will cover registration, travel costs and accommodation of up to $3300 to attend one conference of your preference (either fully-sponsored, or co-sponsored by RAS). In particular, we will provide travel support for attending one of the following conferences (need to specify preference in the application): ICRA, IROS, CASE, Humanoids, RoboSoft, HRI, BioRob, ROMAN. Exemptions will be handled on a case-by-case basis.

This IDEA travel support focuses on increasing diversity in our community, including but not limited to: 

• Secondary/undergrad/graduate students interested in robotics or automation topics

• Underrepresented groups: women, underrepresented minorities, first-generation college students, LGBTQ+

• People with disabilities

• People who have stepped down from the field for some time and want to return (e.g., due to a disease or parental leave).

Please note that eligible for this support are people who are not actively publishing to IEEE RAS conferences or similar in the last three years! Our goal is to support people with enthusiasm about robotics and automation, who want to (re-)enter the field. 

The MSP provides funding to authors of accepted papers to support their attendance to the Society’s sponsored conferences. This support may take the form of reimbursement of eligible costs incurred in attending the conference (travel and accommodation), or provision of pre-booked accomodation near to the conference venue. The amount of support available varies according to the annual budget of the MSP, however, it typically covers costs up to a cap of $1500.

Members must apply for this support through the application form on the linked website.

To be eligible for consideration, an applicant must be either (i) a student or (ii) from a developing country (as determined by the Developing Country Listing) and must be presenting work at the conference they are attending. In all cases, only applicants who are IEEE RAS members may be considered for travel support.

The BiR student and postdoc conference travel awards provide travel expense reimbursements to eligible students or postdocs enrolled in schools in the United States for up to $2000 per applicant.

Application Deadlines:

Applications are reviewed quarterly:

• 2nd week of January

• 2nd week of April

• 2nd week of July

• 2nd week of October

Eligibility

• Must be actively enrolled in a higher education academic institution within the United States, and have a valid academic institution email address (both undergraduate and graduate (masters, doctorate) students, and postdocs are eligible)

• Must be a current member of Black in Robotics (https://blackinrobotics.org/join-us) and an enrolled participant in the BiR resume book (https://resumebook.blackinrobotics.org/)

• Must have an accepted publication at a robotics-related conference, and provide evidence of publication (poster, workshop paper, or conference paper)

• Reimbursement would occur after the conference, and the awardee must retain all receipts for reimbursements that are itemized with proof of payment (card number should be redacted, but charge shown). (If applicable, the paying advisor or administrator's contact information must also be provided for validation) - Awards for finalists will reflect the valid, submitted receipts for reimbursement