Support for travel
The College of Science Student Travel Fund (COSSTA) awards are for students in the College 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
Students may receive up to $500 in Professional Development Award funds per academic year. COSSTA funds are awarded quarterly AND a departmental or grant match is required.
Funds may be used only for valid OSU business travel expenses. Travel expenses may be paid directly from these funds via OSU travel booking systems or purchasing card, or may be used to reimburse OSU business travel expenses. Please include your award letter along with documentation of your expenses (e.g.: hotel bill, airline purchase) when requesting travel reimbursements with these funds, along with any accounting information (e.g.: indexes and activity codes) provided to you with the award.
See OSU fiscal policy 03-140-401 for more information on university business travel expense policies.
Please Note: If there are a high volume of requests and limited funds, we will unfortunately not be able to approve every application, and, in this case, will apply preferential criteria as detailed below. Students are advised to also try other avenues for funding provided by their departments and the Graduate School.
Eligibility
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 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 the conference/meeting, or in the case of a conference/meeting occurring between the end of spring term and the beginning of fall term, the student must be registered for at least 3 graduate credits of enrollment in fall term following the award.
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 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 the conference/meeting, or in the case of a conference/meeting occurring between the end of spring term and the beginning of fall term, the student must be registered for at least 3 credits of enrollment in fall term following the award.
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:
Statement - 1 page 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.Biographical sketch - 2 page maximum
A copy of the student’s résumé or curriculum vitae in a format similar to this template.Proof of Presentation
A copy of the listing of the presentation in the schedule of events in pdf format.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.Estimated Budget
Please add estimated budget items on the Cover Page
