Student Travel Fund

All currently enrolled students in the College of Arts and Sciences are eligible to apply for STF. You must have a letter of support from your faculty advisor in order to apply. Students may only apply once per academic year. Funding priority will be given to first-time applicants.
Please note: Graduating students are not eligible to apply for funding for travel that will occur after the date of their graduation.

Please submit your STF application through the Gnosis STF Portal: https://gnosis.usfca.edu/stf and select the appropriate semester from the activity pull-down menu in order to apply. For example, to apply for funding in Fall 2023, please select "Arts and Sciences Fall 2023."

Applicants may submit an application either before or after travel has occurred. In both cases, it is important to provide supporting documentation. Please take advantage of early registration, airfare deals, and discounted hotel rates when possible.

If your travel takes place during the summer months (May-August), please check in with the STF team before applying to ensure that you are applying for the correct application cycle. 

In order to apply for STF, you will complete an application form that asks for the following: 

• Statement of Objective & Description of Research
• Itemized Budget & Budget Rationale
• Plans to Secure Additional Funding (if needed)

In addition, you will be asked to apply quotes and/or receipts for expenses (such as transportation costs, registration costs, etc.), a letter of support from a faculty mentor or research advisor, and your unofficial academic transcript. 

Your statement of purpose/research description should show how the trip will directly support your research, creative, or scholarly activity (aim for 1 page or less, single-spaced, font size 12). Do not provide a thesis or abstract as your statement of purpose. 

• For conference travel, explain your role at the conference (e.g. oral presentation, poster presentation, etc.). If you are presenting your work at a conference, please include the abstract with the Statement of Purpose.
• For travel related to research, please describe the larger research question being addressed and the specific goals for this trip (archives to be visited, data collected, etc.).
• For other travel, please describe your ongoing research or creative activity and how this travel will directly support your academic work.

Yes, STF funds international travel when sufficient funding is available. 

• For expenses incurred overseas, please include original receipts (or quotes) in the country’s currency with an expense report completed in US dollars. When converting to US dollars for international travel, the University requires that receipts be converted on the day of the expense or final bill. Each conversion for each receipt must have a copy of the conversion from the online converter submitted with the receipt.
• All international travel must first be cleared by the office of Vice Provost of Global Education, Immersions and Strategic Initiatives, Anastasia Vrachnos. Please contact Allyn Nobles, Assistant Director, Center for Global Education, Study Abroad (nobles@usfca.edu, x2843) to receive clearance for international travel. If possible, please get clearance for your travel before applying for STF; if you have not received clearance prior to submitting your application, anticipate a delay in the award process.

STF is able to fund up to $1,000. Funding is subject to availability and not guaranteed. If sufficient funding is not available, applications may be partially funded or not funded. Students are limited to one STF grant per year, and first-time applicants will be prioritized. 

The following items will not be funded by STF:

• Transportation upgrades such as extra legroom and priority boarding
• Visa fees
• Travel insurance
• Reimbursement for travel booked using frequent flier miles and/or rewards points
• Extra charges from lodging, such as video rentals and room service 
• Optional conference events, such as banquets and tours
• Costs of becoming a member an organization holding a conference or workshop, UNLESS a) membership is required to attend, or b) membership and registration fees combined are less than registration fees for non-members

You should receive a decision within 3 - 4 weeks of the application deadline. Please note that this will depend on the volume of applications submitted for that cycle.

Within ten (10) days of completing your travel submit an online expense report along with all original receipts. (Exception: no food receipts are required) and a copy of your award letter via the Concur system. Please reconcile your expenses in Concur using the STF FOAP which will be provided in your award letter. Your Department’s Program Assistant can help you with Concur.

The student travel fund is a limited pool of money and our primary goal when making decisions about awards is to support as many students as possible. This means that we cannot guarantee that any student will receive funding in full. We strongly encourage students to seek additional funding from other sources (e.g. Graduate Student Association, departmental support, conference support, etc.) prior to submitting their STF application. Please indicate all sources of outside funding in your application.

If you have a change in plans and decide not to travel, please let Gillian Rude know at grude2@usfca.edu. Unused funds will be returned to the STF.