Summer Pre-Dissertation Travel Grants

Get support for research-related summer travel

IU graduate students can apply for summer pre-dissertation travel grants that support research-related summer travel abroad prior to conducting dissertation research abroad.

Each year, eight to ten students receive fellowships consisting of a $1,000 stipend plus round-trip economy airfare from Indianapolis to the location where research will be conducted. Travel from other points of origin in the United States is possible if cost of airfare is comparable.

The grants support six-to-eight week trips for preliminary dissertation fieldwork activities such as:

• Exploring potential research sites, archives, and other research resources
• Establishing institutional affiliations
• Identifying and meeting with local scholars and contacts as appropriate

Applicants must outline a plan that is designed to secure the feasibility of their eventual dissertation plans.

Eligibility

All Indiana University Ph.D. students are eligible for this grant, regardless of discipline, department, campus, or nationality. To be eligible, you must:

• Be enrolled in a program leading to a Ph.D. degree at Indiana University
• Have completed at least two years of graduate coursework prior to the beginning date of proposed research including at least one year at IU
• Be at a pre-dissertation stage of your graduate program

Students are not eligible for this grant if they are receiving funds from another source for the same purpose and during the same award period that fully cover the costs of the proposed activity. Permission to combine an OVPIA grant with other funding will be done on a case-by-case basis.

Letters of reference

One letter of reference from your primary Indiana University faculty research advisor is required.

If your work requires facility in a foreign language of which you are not a native speaker, you will also need to supply a letter/evaluation of your foreign language ability from a faculty member or language coordinator, preferably from IU.