Support for travel

The College of Science Student Travel Fund (COSSTA) awards are for students in the College of Science who need financial support to attend professional conferences to present their research findings and will help cover certain costs associated with presenting their scholarly work at academic conferences and meetings. These funds are intended to help undergraduate and graduate students take advantage of presentation opportunities to highlight the outstanding academic work of our scholarly community, and ultimately support student success

Award details

COSSTA funds are administered in the Dean’s Office and awarded quarterly. A departmental or grant match is required.

Important: The departmental award or grant match is not administered by the Dean’s office. Please contact the awarding department for more information. The awarding department may grant awards by providing recipients with an index or activity code that can be used to pay for travel expenses via OSU travel booking systems or to reimburse expenses associated with conferences. See OSU fiscal policy 03-140-401 for more information on university business travel expense policies.

The COSSTA awards are granted in the form of a scholarship and recipients may receive up to $500 per academic year. All funding awards are subject to the availability of funds. These funds are designed to help students defray some of the expenses related to attending conferences.

Recipients will receive notification via email and must accept the offer through ScholarDollars. It is advisable to consult with an OSU Financial Aid advisor before accepting any scholarships, as it may affect your financial aid package. Once accepted through ScholarDollars, the award amount will be deposited into the recipient's student account during the term in which the conference occurs and applied first to any outstanding balance. Any remaining available balance will be issued as refunds after the balance has been cleared. The disbursement process will adhere to the guidelines established by the Office of Financial Aid and Student Account Services. For inquiries regarding your student account, including outstanding balances, please contact Student Account Services.

Please Note: If we receive a high volume of requests, we may not be able to approve every application. In these situations, we prioritize using the criteria detailed below. Students are advised to seek additional avenues for funding provided by their departments and the Graduate School.

Eligibility

We are only able to provide support for students in the College of Science.

COSSTA funds may only be used for student travel as indicated below:

Graduate Students

The following guidelines will apply

• Travel must be to an international conference or workshop hosted outside the United States for the purpose of making a presentation.
• The student must be listed as the sole author/presenter, first or lead author/presenter, or serving in a capacity whereby they are responsible for significant leadership for the overall session. Materials must have been accepted by the conference/meeting at the time of the request.
• The student must be a current master’s or doctoral student in the College of Science at Oregon State University and be making satisfactory academic progress as determined by the student’s graduate program.
• The student must be enrolled in at least 3 graduate credits at OSU at the time of awarding and disbursement.

Undergraduate Students

The following guidelines will apply

• Travel can be academic travel for undergraduates for the purpose of attending a conference or workshop and making a presentation (poster or talk). Preference will be given for international travel, in case of a high volume of applications.
• The student must be a current student in the College of Science at Oregon State University and be making satisfactory academic progress as determined by the student’s program/ academic advisor.
• The student must be enrolled in at least 3 credits at OSU at the time of awarding and disbursement.

Eligible Costs

Examples of qualifying costs for reimbursement include:

• Conference/meeting fees
• Professional organization membership fees
• Poster printing costs
• Transportation costs (flights, ground transportation)
• Lodging, and food expenses
• Other expenses that are specific to this travel (please justify)

This award is intended to provide funding that would not normally be available from other sources.

Application

The COSSTA Application is an online form linked below. In addition to basic information about you and your travel, please prepare the following materials before filling out the form:

1. Statement - 500 words maximum
   A detailed statement from the student describing in their own words (a) the importance of the meeting/conference relative to their academic field of study, (b) how the proposed activity contributes to their academic and professional goals, and (c) an overview of the research they will be presenting.
2. Biographical sketch - 2 page maximum
   A copy of the student’s résumé or curriculum vitae in a format similar to this template.
3. Proof of Presentation
   A copy of the listing of the presentation in the schedule of events in pdf format.
4. Endorsement - 1 page maximum
   Signed letter on OSU letterhead from the student's academic/research advisor, department head, program director, or unit chair/head that (a) relates the importance of the particular meeting/conference, (b) describes the student’s scholarly contribution to the presentation, (c) confirms that the student has made satisfactory academic progress and meets the eligibility requirements above and (d) an index number for matching funds.
5. Estimated Budget
   Please add estimated budget items on the Cover Page

Apply now through ScholarDollars

Selection criteria and proposal evaluation

Proposals will be judged primarily on the basis of scientific merit and potential impact. Reviewers will also consider the prestige of the conference and the potential for broad, positive impact on the research enterprise of the College of Science and Oregon State University.

Proposals will be evaluated by an ad-hoc Student Travel Fund Review Panel.

Deadlines

Requests are accepted quarterly throughout the academic year; subject to funding availability per term. Applications must be submitted and approved before the conference travel deadline. This opportunity is solely for conferences happening in the upcoming term; retroactive approval after the event will not be given.

All applications are due by midnight of the last day in each cycle.

Summer conferences

• Apply between February 21 and May 5
• Awardees will be notified no later than June 15

Fall conferences

• Apply between June 24 and August 4
• Awardees will be notified no later than September 15

Winter conferences

• Apply between September 30 and November 3
• Awardees will be notified no later than December 15

Spring conferences

• Apply between January 6 and February 9
• Awardees will be notified no later than March 15

Award

A typical award amount is $500, and all funding awards are subject to the availability of funds. Recipients will be notified via email and must accept the offer in ScholarDollars. Once the offer is accepted, the award amount will be deposited into the recipient's student account. The award disbursement process will follow the guidelines set forth by the Office of Financial Aid and Student Account Services.

Reporting

The COSSTA scholarships are made possible by the generosity of our donors, and it is incredibly meaningful for donors to learn about the students their gifts support.The Office of the Dean requires that students who receive a COSSTA award submit the following:

• A thank you note to donors at the time of accepting the award in ScholarDollars.
• A one page report (pdf or word format only) on project accomplishments within 30 days of completing the travel/conference.

Please note: Reporting that is not completed may affect future consideration of any COSSTA awards.

All students, please submit your one page report to the Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Studies, Vrushali Bokil (vrushali.bokil@oregonstate.edu) 30 days post-travel.

Need help?

Please send any questions to College of Science Research Development research.development@science.oregonstate.edu or Vrushali Bokil (vrushali.bokil@oregonstate.edu)