2009-2010 Application Information for Vilas Travel Grant Competition for UW-Madison Dissertators and Final-Year Master of Fine Arts students
In 2008, more than 300 awards of $600 were granted for domestic and international research and conference presentation travel. Five awards of $1,500 were granted for research outside the 48 United States.
Awards are granted based on available annual funding.
Deadline: 4:30 p.m. on Friday, October 30, 2009
Awards will be announced at the end of November 2009
Eligibility
- Graduate student dissertators or final-year Master of Fine Arts students who plan to present their research at a conference (e.g., program or poster) or travel for research purposes. Note: Master of Arts students are not eligible; only Master of Fine Arts students and dissertators are eligible.
- Master of Fine Arts students must be in their final year of work towards their degree.
- Dissertator status must be final before the first day of the Fall semester of the current award year. For the 2009-2010 award year, the last day to obtain dissertator status was Monday, September 1, 2009. If you are in doubt of your eligibility, please contact the GSC at gsc@bascom.wisc.edu.
- If you intend to use the grant to travel to a conference, you must be presenting at the conference.
- Travel must occur between September 1, 2009 and August 31, 2010, therefore, previous travel may be funded. For example, if you traveled to a conference on September 5, 2009, you may apply for a Vilas Travel Grant during this application period.
- Priority will be given to applicants who have never been awarded a Vilas Travel Grant, though previous recipients are still eligible to apply.
- There is a single application for both award amounts.
- If you have not yet been accepted to make a presentation at a conference, we recommend you apply as though you have already been accepted to make a presentation.
- If you are applying to multiple conferences, we recommend you apply as though you have already been accepted to the most prestigious of the conferences.
Vilas Travel Grant Workshop
Do you need help filling out the application or want recommendations on how to structure your Synopsis? Then come to a Vilas Travel Grant Workshop.
Friday, October 9, 2009
Noon - 1:00 p.m.
Bascom Hall, Room 260
OR
Monday, October 12, 2009
5:30 - 6:30 p.m.
Bascom Hall, Room 260
Registration is required. To register, go to http://www.grad.wisc.edu/gsc/registration and click on the registration link for this event. Both workshops provide the same content.
The PowerPoint from the workshop is posted at
www.grad.wisc.edu/education/gsc/VilasWorkshop.pdf.
Application Procedures
Electronic Application
Fill out the electronic application on this web page with your contact and student information.
One application can be completed per student citing all research travel or travel for one conference. In the case of duplicate submissions, the most recent application will be reviewed.
Submit your electronic application by pressing Submit.
If you have problems submitting the electronic application, please contact
the GSC at gsc@bascom.wisc.edu.
Summary Form
After submitting your electronic application, you will be
re-directed to the Summary Form page. Print and sign your Summary Form and
have it signed by your Major Professor/Faculty Advisor.
Synopsis
Write a one-page Synopsis, clearly justifying how you will use the Vilas Travel Grant. The following information is required but you may include additional information:
- Your destination
- An itemized list of approximate costs for travel to the conference where you are presenting or the location(s) where you are conducting research. The following website will help you estimate soome of your travel costs: www.uwsa.edu/fadmin/fppp/fppp36d.htm.
- The date you are leaving and the date you are returning
- The importance of this travel to your research and advancement
- Illustrate the significance of the conference/research for your field
- Report any funding for your travel that you have received, any funding in which you anticipate receiving and any funding for which you intend to apply. This also includes funding that you have applied for but not yet been awarded. If your receipt of funding from another source is contingent upon whether or not you receive a Vilas Travel Grant, or vice versa, please describe this contingency.
There are no formatting guidelines for the Synopsis. Pictures, as well as graphs, charts, data etc. can be included as part of the one-page Synopsis. Any font style, size, color, and margin setting can be used. This is a competitive award; we expect the Synopsis
to be professional and well written. Synopses exceeding one page will
not be considered.
Letter of Recommendation
Provide a Letter of Recommendation from your Major Professor/Faculty Advisor supporting your reason for travel.
Required Documentation for Vilas Travel Grant Application
Please consult the checklist appropriate to you (US Citizen/Permanent Resident/Resident Alien; an International student with an F-1 visa status; OR an International student with a J-1 visa status) to determine what documentation is necessary to complete your application. When submitting these documents, please ensure that all materials are submitted in the order they are listed below.
US Citizen/Permanent Resident/Resident Alien
The below materials should be stapled together and submitted:
- Summary Form
- Synopsis
- Letter of Recommendation signed by major professor/faculty advisor
International Student with an F-1 visa status
Packet #1
The below materials should be stapled together:
- Summary Form
- Synopsis
- Letter of Recommendation signed by major professor/faculty advisor
Packet #2
The below materials should be stapled together:
- Copy of passport picture page
- W-8BEN form (see instructions for the W-8BEN form here)
- Copy of I-94
- Copy of I-20
- ONE of the following items:
An application form or acceptance letter for a Social Security Number, signed or stamped by the appropriate Acceptance Agent, or your Social Security Number
OR
An application form or acceptance letter for an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) signed or stamped by the appropriate Acceptance Agent or your Individual Taxpayer Identification Number.
Packet #1 and Packet #2 should then be paperclipped together and submitted.
International Student with a J-1 visa status
Packet #1
The below materials should be stapled together:
- Summary Form
- Synopsis
- Letter of Recommendation signed by major professor/faculty advisor
Packet #2
The below materials should be stapled together:
- Copy of passport picture page
- W-8BEN form (see instructions for the W-8BEN form here)
- Copy of I-94
- Copy of DS-2019
- ONE of the following items:
An application form or acceptance letter for a Social Security Number, signed or stamped by the appropriate Acceptance Agent, or your Social Security Number
OR
An application form or acceptance letter for an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) signed or stamped by the appropriate Acceptance Agent or your Individual Taxpayer Identification Number.
Packet #1 and Packet #2 should then be paperclipped together and submitted.
Submitting Your Completed Application Packet
After clicking on the 'Submit' button, you will be taken to a screen with your Summary Form and Checklist. Print the Summary Form and Checklist, sign the Summary Form, have it signed by your major professor/faculty advisor, and submit the Summary Form and completed Checklist as the first pages of your application together with all additional materials cited below by 4:30 p.m. on Friday, October 30, 2009, via one of these methods:
- Deliver by hand to the Graduate School in Bascom Hall, Room 217 during office hours (Monday thru Friday, 7:45 - 11:45 a.m. and 12:30 - 4:30 p.m.).
- Send by certified mail or private carrier such as UPS or FedEx (we do not encourage the use of campus mail due to possible delays) to:
The Graduate School
Fellowships Office
217 Bascom Hall
500 Lincoln Drive
Madison, WI 53706
Before you submit your packet, please verify that you have provided the appropriate materials by placing a check in the box corresponding to each document you are required to submit.
If it is not feasible to submit your materials through one of these channels, please contact the Graduate Student Collaborative at gsc@bascom.wisc.edu.
If you are not submitting your packet in person, we recommend you allow additional time in case there are problems with the receipt of your documents. If you do not submit your packet in person, please verify the receipt of your documents by contacting the Graduate Student Collaborative at gsc@bascom.wisc.edu.
Packets received after 4:30 p.m. on Friday, October
30, 2009 will not be considered. NO EXCEPTIONS WILL BE MADE. Incomplete applications will
not be reviewed.
Review Procedures
- Priority will be given to applicants who have never received a Vilas Travel Grant. Other considerations during the review process include, but are not limited to: preferential consideration is given for travel for research over travel for conference presentations, sole-authorship over co-authorship, national over regional conferences, financial need, originality of work and level of support indicated in the Letter of Recommendation.
- The Review Committee consists of graduate students and the Graduate School's Office of Fellowships and Funding Resources (OFFR) and are advised by a Faculty Advisory Fommittee.
- Only complete applications will be reviewed by the Review Committee.
Award Notification and Acceptance
All applicants will be notified via email before the end of November about the review committees' decision regarding their application.
In order to receive your check, you must provide proof of your travel arrangements by providing a receipt of a travel expense. Reservation receipts will not be accepted. If presenting at a conference, you must present proof of your acceptance to present at the conference in order to receive your check.
If for some reason your travel plans change, immediately contact Matt Mitterko at the Graduate School's Office of Fellowships and Funding Resources by emailing mitterko@bascom.wisc.edu.