1. If you are presenting at a conference you must apply for Graduate School Funding.  The department may be able to provide matched funding, but we will not provide any funding without a Graduate School application.  You can see deadlines and guidelines, and download the application form from the Graduate School's website here.

2. Apply for funding as soon as your paper or poster is accepted; do not wait until the very last minute.  If applying for the Graduate School's Major Award (for amounts over £250) please submit the complete Graduate School Student Conference Fund application to the Postgraduate Administrator (room 5.22) at least 3 weeks before the Graduate School deadline as we need time to get the forms signed off by the department.

3. You must apply before the conference, preferably at least a month before the start.  The Graduate School will not fund expenses for past conferences retrospectively.

4. The department will try to match funds on Graduate School applications but only for self-funded students. This includes DHPA-funded and overseas students on a scholarship from their own country which does not provide travel expenses.  Overseas students on a scholarship must apply to their funding body for as much travel funding as they are allowed and the department will try to make up the difference.

5. Students on a project studentship, DTA or CASE award already have travel expenses allocated to them (for EPSRC-funded students, submission of a completed S102 to the EPSRC should occur at least 1 month prior to the conference and supervisors have to fill in part of the S102 form before it is sent).   If a student's project has run out of funds please contact the postgraduate administrators who will try to help in exceptional circumstances. Supervisors need to make sure that travel expenses for their PhDs are written into all project proposals.

6. Unfortunately due to the fact that this year's budget is extremely tight, the department has had to put in place an upper limit on the amount of funds able to be provided for conference funding per application.

7. The Graduate School and department will normally only fund one conference per year, with no more than two in total during your programme of study.

8. Again, the UCL Graduate School's deadlines, guidelines, and application form can be downloaded from here.

9. Once the form is complete get your supervisor to sign it, attach all supporting documentation including the abstract and supporting evidence for estimated costs.  Then hand them in to the Postgraduate Administrator (room 5.22).

If you have a second paper within a year accepted at a top-rated conference, or a workshop which is important to get feedback on your research from internationally leading experts, the Department may exceptionally fund a second trip.  Quality publications are important for the Department, so if you have a paper accepted in a quality venue, we will try to cover at least part of the cost.  However, most of our PhD students publish in top venues in their 2nd and 3rd year, so funds are very tight. You should therefore discuss possible sources of funding with your supervisor before submitting a second conference paper.