Funding for PhD student attending an overseas academic conference?

October 7, 2013 7:26 AM

I am a criminology PhD student based in London and have been invited to present at a conference in Tampa, Florida next year. The conference is perfect for my area of research; the only thing is neither my university nor the hosting institution can provide funding to cover my travel expenses. Are there any other bodies that might be able to provide some funding?
posted by PhDStudent to Education (6 answers total)

Have you spoken to your university careers department? They may know of some opportunities.

Speak to the conference organisers making it clear you are a student and ask for a discounted entry. Its pretty common to give a substantial discount for a limited number of student attendees. If they say yes it will at least cut down what you have to find yourself.

You may already have done this but it is always worth checking with your supervisor before signing up for any conference. What looks like a perfect conference may not necessarily be so and your supervisor may know of dodgy or less useful ones to avoid.
posted by biffa at 7:31 AM on October 7, 2013 [1 favorite]

Are you part of any professional associations? Many academic societies have travel grants.
posted by tchemgrrl at 7:46 AM on October 7, 2013

If neither the conference nor your university department will pay, you're probably out of luck. The other possible options are asking the conference organizers if you can have a reduced fee for working the registration desk (if this is a conference that is a big one, versus a small one where they have 5 of their students doing it).

The importance of going to conferences is one of those things within the doctoral world where it is incredibly unfair that some people have outside resources for while others don't. (Another example: having to work during the summer or in the evening for extra money, thus taking away time from publishing or while on the job market being able to afford a nice suit, briefcase, coat, and haircut.)

If you want to be an academic, you probably are going to have to bite the bullet and make a few of these investments along the way. You're going to need a decent interview suit, so the holiday before you're on the market, ask family for that. You are going to need to go to some conferences, but you can be strategic about it. (Also, be aware of your general odds of finding academic employment anyway.)

You need to look at this as a potential investment and evaluate if it is important to you (i.e. why is it perfect?). Here are some criteria to think about:

- Who is going to this conference? Are these people in the discipline that I am in? Are these people in the discipline that I plan to apply for jobs in?
- Is this a small niche conference where I will have the opportunity to become intimately acquainted with people that are very important to my future career? Will I have the opportunity to mingle with them at other times.
- Is this an important point in my career? Are you about 2 years away from the job market?
- Why do you need to present this paper at this conference? Are the people in attendance people that you want to know about your work? Cite it? Just want feedback?
- What's the outcome of this conference? An edited book? A special issue of a journal? Is that a publication goal of yours?

I absolutely understand the value of graduate students attending conferences and being exposed to how they work. But if you evaluate this conference and can't see the immediate short-term and medium-term value of it, don't go. If the short-term and medium-term value is high, you might just have to put this one on a credit card, if it is really what you want.
posted by k8t at 8:41 AM on October 7, 2013

Firstly, are you sure there aren't any obscure travel grants you're eligible for from your university? In my experience many universities have a few smallish, low-key grants funded by bequests from old alumni.

If you have done due diligence on that, I would strongly endorse tchemgrrl's advice to look at professional associations. A lot of them put effort into shaking down their senior members for their junior members' travel funds. It's well worth the effort of doing a serious trawl for any organizations that might be sufficiently related to your field. Usually their subscription fees for students are very affordable. (I don't have any experience in your field, but I'm assuming that similar things exist.)
posted by pont at 9:26 AM on October 7, 2013

if you write to the conference organizers well in advance (as in many months in advance, and be persistent) you're likely to find they need help and are using volunteers, and many will comp your registration in exchange.

Email & message boards can be a great way to get to know local grad students, opportunities to share accommodations, an invite to stay on someone's couch etc.

When I was going super low budget I used to bring a mug and one of those electric wands that boils water in the cup (european) -ramen and oatmeal go a long way!

If you're really determined to go, no matter who pays, buy that air ticket far, far in advance.
posted by iiniisfree at 12:59 AM on October 8, 2013

also: k8t has listed great questions to ask yourself, but upon reflection on my own experience, I didn't have enough experience to answer those questions when I was getting started. It was going to the conferences (by hook or by crook or by... ramen), having amazing conversations with conference attendees who inspired me, who helped me formulate my own ideas-- a process which took years. If you are absolutely certain this is the field for you, even if you don't know exactly what you want to get out of the conference, I think there's a lot of value in attending, networking, and getting inspired. Some conferences are better for that than others, which would be another basis for deciding if you want to put this one on the credit card.
posted by iiniisfree at 1:07 AM on October 8, 2013