Student Travel Grant Program
Proposal Guidelines
Carefully read the eligibility and review criteria in the Request for Proposals (RFP) (.pdf) as you complete your proposal.
Submit proposals using only the 2013 Fall Student Travel Proposal Template (.doc) (to be released September, 2013). Proposals not submitted on the required 2013 fall template will not be accepted. Text entries must be single-spaced type, use 11-point Arial or 12-point Times New Roman font, and use 0.75 inch margins. Proposals not complying with style guidelines will not be accepted.
Student Travel Award applicants must be sponsored by a CSU faculty mentor. You must discuss this proposal with your faculty mentor and get his/her support, including a signed letter of support as part of the proposal package.
Faculty mentors are required to submit the electronic version of their student's completed proposal before the published deadline, using OARS. CSUPERB is no longer accepting hardcopy or emailed submissions. Please make sure you submit the complete proposal using the directions on the Proposal Submission page.
Cover Page
Be careful to enter contact information accurately; CSUPERB will communicate with you and your mentor about the status of your proposal by email only.
Include the signed Cover Page with your electronic proposal template submission. You can do this by scanning the signed cover page and uploading it as a separate document or as part of a PDF file.
Details of Meeting, Workshop or Facility/Site
First, make sure that your planned travel will occur between July 1, 2013 and June 30, 2014. If awarded, travel must occur while individual is still an enrolled CSU student (not yet graduated) or CSU employee so that expenses can be reimbursed. Travel grants are given to support travel to a specific meetings or research site, so you need to provide the full name of the meeting, conference, workshop or facility/site you're planning to attend. Do not use abbreviations or initials.
Purpose of Travel
To facilitate the review process, indicate what kind of travel proposal you're submitting and whether or not you're presenting (or collecting) your own research data and results.
Abstract and/or Project Description
Use this section to describe your project's goals, results and conclusions. If you are presenting at a meeting or workshop, provide the abstract that you have submitted or that has been accepted. Make sure to include presentation title, list of authors, introductory information, and a clear explanation of the project goals, methodology, results, and conclusions. If your submitted or accepted abstract does not include all this information, add a second paragraph containing the information. If you are not presenting results at the meeting/workshop, describe the usefulness of attending in the context of your own research program, educational program, and/or career advancement. If your travel plans are to collect biotechnology-related data at specialized, shared facilities or sites, discuss the original research aims that will be supported by the data collection. This abstract/project description may be posted on the CSUPERB website, but only if the project is funded. Do not include proprietary information. Limit 1 page.
Student Essay: Describe Your Personal Contribution to the Project, and Describe Relevance of Proposed Travel to Your ongoing Education and /or Research Plans, along with its Impact on Your Career Path
Use this section to describe how significant your contribution to the work being presented or data collected is. Estimate and justify what percent of the total project work you did or will do. Importantly, use this section to explain how the proposed travel might advance your educational and/or research goals and how this experience might help you in your career. Limit 1 page.
Budget and Justification
See Budget Guidelines for instructions and details. Limit 1/2 page.
Past Travel Support from CSUPERB
List past CSUPERB Travel Grant funding. Do not include travel reimbursements related to the annual CSU Biotechnology Symposium. Limit 1/2 page.
Faculty Mentor Letter of Recommendation
Applicants must be sponsored by a CSU faculty member. Your faculty mentor must write and sign a CSU faculty mentor letter of recommendation (on campus/department letterhead). As a result you will need to coordinate the submittal of that letter with your mentor by the proposal deadline.
The detailed letter should focus on describing the student's accomplishments, potential and his/her role in research presented or project planned. The review criteria include the significance of the student's contribution to the work being presented or data collection. Consequently, mentors should comment in their letter about the student's role in accomplishing the work, especially compared to other applicants from the same laboratory or class. The review panel will also be interested in learning why the travel proposed is important for the student's career.
Contact Information
For questions related to this grant program or RFP, please contact:
Susan Baxter
Executive Director, CSUPERB
(619) 594-2822
or
James Schmitt
Program Administrator, CSUPERB
(619) 594-5299
