Student Travel Grant

The purpose of the IEEE ICNP Student Travel Grant Program (funded by NSF) is to encourage PhD student participation in the conference by partially funding the travel costs of PhD students who would otherwise be unable to attend. Only US-based PhD students are eligible for travel grant. As such, preference for grants will be given to PhD students who satisfy one or more of the following criteria:

• Non-author students.
• Student authors of papers submitted but not included in the program.
• Student co-authors of accepted papers and posters who are not making the presentation at the conference.
• Students presenting a poster, or a demo, or participating in the PhD forum.
• Students in early stages of their PhD studies without alternate means of support.

Applications are accepted from students at PhD degree granting institutions in the US. Applications are expected to show evidence of a serious interest in networking, as demonstrated by coursework and project experience. ICNP particularly encourages the participation of women and under-represented minorities.

Application Process

An application for a student travel award includes a letter from the student and a supporting letter from the student's advisor.

• The student's application should include a vita, containing basic information such as degrees earned, current affiliations, relevant coursework and grades, and any other information the student feels is relevant to support their application. The letter should include a brief summary of research interests and accomplishments and how the student would benefit from attending ICNP (including which areas in the ICNP program would impact the student's research). Students should demonstrate a serious interest in the subject matters of the conference, evidenced by recent coursework and projects. The letter should also mention qualification for any of the above five preference criteria. The letter, vita, and other relevant information must be included in *one PDF file*.
• The student advisor's letter, which can be as short as is necessary to convey the relevant information, should confirm that the student is a PhD candidate in good standing, the research area of the student, and should briefly comment on the strengths and potential contributions of the student. Furthermore, the letter should indicate how the student would benefit from attending ICNP, the suitability of ICNP's technical program to the student's research area, and why the student is in need of a travel grant. If the applicant is a co-author on an accepted paper, the student advisor's letter must specify whether other co-authors will be attending the conference and presenting the work.

How to apply?

The applications for travel grant must be submitted through EDAS. Please log into EDAS, select 'Travel Grants' from the top menu, and search for ICNP. Please enter the email address or EDAS id of your advisor and an email will be sent to her/him for a recommendation letter. Please upload your application (cv, grades, and other materials) as *one PDF file* in EDAS.

Important dates

Travel grant details

The amount of support provided to each student is intended to defray but not necessary cover all the costs incurred by students towards registration, travel, and lodging at the conference hotel. We do not anticipate making any awards exceeding $750, which leaves either $400 or $475 for travel and lodging. Students are strongly encouraged to secure additional funding from other sources if their anticipated travel and lodging costs are significantly higher than this limit. The travel award will be handled via reimbursements. For any expense that is covered, a receipt is required (e.g., airfare and hotel receipts). The reimbursement will be sent as a check via snail mail six to eight weeks after receipt of reimbursement forms. Details will be communicated to award recipients.

Important note about reimbursement

For reimbursement, the student must submit the following information:

• Original receipts for travel, lodging, and conference registration. For travel receipts, please include boarding passes and/or receipts for train/cabs. For lodging, please include a receipt from the hotel in addition to the online hotel reservation.
• If you are a US citizen, a completed W-9 form.
• If you are on a F-1/J-1 visa, a completed W-8 form.
• A sheet that lists all the expenses.

All of the above information must be sent by postal mail to:
Patricia Hervey
Department of Computer Science
450 Computer Science Building
Columbia University, New York, NY 10027

Every student must provide all original receipts and copies of relevant documentation. Plan accordingly: if planning to use airfare as a source of reimbursement, ask for a duplicate receipt upon check-in at the airport; if planning to use hotel costs as a source of reimbursement, ask for a duplicate receipt before or at check-out. (These two sources of expenses, plus the conference registration fee, are expected to be more than sufficient to cover the award amount.)

An application for this travel grant is an implicit acceptance of these terms.

Committee