UIC Postdoctoral Travel Award Policy & Guidelines

The University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) Office of Postdoctoral Affairs would like to offer travel awards intended to assist UIC postdocs who are presenting their research or speaking at national or international academic or scientific conferences. We are also expanding the award to include professional development opportunities, to assist UIC postdocs in attending meetings, workshops, or courses that will advance their scholarship or career. Examples of professional development opportunities include grantsmanship workshops, training courses to develop a new skill, or leadership or science policy conferences.

Applicants must be UIC postdocs with a full time appointment as a Postdoctoral Research Associate or Postdoctoral Fellow. If you consider yourself a postdoc but have a different title and are within five years of receipt of a terminal doctorate degree (e.g. PhD/MD/PharmD) please reach out to postdoc_office@uic.edu for inquiry.

  • Applications will be accepted four times per year in January, April, July, and October. The application form will open on the 1st of the month and the deadline will be on the last day of the month.
  • Applicants must apply and be approved for the award during the appropriate travel periods, as noted below.
  • The maximum amount to be awarded is $500.
  • Applicants may only submit a single travel award application per award cycle. Those who are not selected are welcome to reapply.
  • You MAY apply for both a travel award and a small scholarship award in the same award cycle, but each award MUST be used for separate opportunities.
  • Funds from the travel awards are not transferable to another meeting or lab member. If you are unable to use your award, you are welcome to submit a new application for an award for a future conference, provided you are still appointed as a postdoc.
  • Applicants can only receive a single travel award during the entire course of their fellowship at UIC, thus if you are awarded a travel award to attend an academic or scientific conference, you are not eligible to also receive a travel award to attend a professional development meeting
  • Funding may be used for registration fees, abstract submission fees, society membership fees, travel and hotel.
  • Complete and submit the online UIC Postdoc Travel Award application below
  • All fields need to be completed for an application to be considered and include a statement of purpose and projected expenses.
  • If applying for a travel award to attend a scientific/academic conference, all documents must be uploaded for an application to be considered and include:
    • Proof of intent to actively participate in the meeting as a poster presenter or speaker, e.g. abstract submission, symposium submission, speaker invitation, presentation acceptance email, etc.;
    • Proof of meeting registration;
    • Statement of support from advisor/principal investigator. The statement from your supervisor only needs to be 1-2 sentences, which indicates that you have informed them of your plans to attend the conference or meeting and that they approve of your attendance. If you are not working under the direct supervision of a faculty member, you can simply upload a short statement that you don’t have a supervisor.
  • If applying for a travel award to participate in a professional development opportunity, requested documents must be uploaded for an application to be considered and include:
    • Statement of support from advisor/principal investigator
  • By submitting the application, the applicant agrees that they are willing to comply with the following Award Agreement.

By completing the application, the applicant agrees to the following award agreement:

If awarded the UIC Postdoc Travel Award, I hereby acknowledge understanding that this award is intended to support my professional and career development by attending the meeting stated above. I hereby acknowledge that these funds will be used to attend, participate, and contribute to the meeting. I understand that I am a representative of UIC and agree to exemplify the professional nature of UIC while on my travels. I agree that the UIC OPA will not be held liable for any damages to persons or property which may occur related to this travel.

By electronically signing the UIC Postdoc Travel Award application, I indicate that:

  • I have read and understand the UIC Postdoc Travel Award Policies and Guidelines listed on this webpage.
  • I understand that failure to conform to the policies and guidelines of this webpage could result in rejection of my travel reimbursement and loss of eligibility for future OPA funding.
  • I understand that providing false information to the UIC OPA immediately disqualifies me from ever applying to OPA funding.

Applications will be selected based on quality of the research and meeting caliber.

Deadline Travel period
April 30 June 1 to August 31
July 31 September 1 to November 30
**October 15 (for Oct 2024) December 1 to February 28 or 29
**February 15 (for January 2025) March 1 to May 31

Reimbursement forms need to submitted immediately following the completion of travel and no later than 30 days after travel is completed. The awardee should submit reimbursement through the Chrome River system (https://www.busfin.uillinois.edu/) and will be issued a letter of support to be uploaded to the expense report in Chrome River (as a receipt). The awardee will also be provided with account information (C-FOP) to be entered as a Charge Code Allocation to be charged up to $500 in Chrome River.

Travel Award Application Form Heading link

The next award cycle for the UIC Postdoc Travel Award will open on Wednesday, January 15, 2025 and will be open through Friday, February 15, 2025.