The Graduate Office can offer a limited amount of funding for twenty students to attend scientific meetings each year. Each award is for a maximum of $300.

The goal of this program is to give students the opportunity to present data and begin to develop contacts with scientists beyond the University of Pittsburgh. To this end, we require that applicants for travel fellowships be making a presentation at the meeting. This should be documented in the form of an abstract or other such submission in which the applicant is the first author. The opportunities to meet and interact with senior scientists are much greater at smaller meetings than at large gatherings like Experimental Biology or The Society for Neuroscience meetings. Gordon Conferences, that are a week in duration and typically have 1-200 attendees, represent the prototype of meetings that we would prefer to support; there are many others that fall into this general category.

The opportunity to meet potential post-doctoral advisors or employers emphasizes the value of meeting attendance to more senior students. Accordingly, in the selection process preference will be given to students who have completed their comprehensive exams and are closer to graduation. Other factors that will be considered include the support for the meeting indicated by the student's mentor, as well as participation in on-campus student activities such as the BGSA.