Graduate Conference Funding

The Graduate Conference Fund provides eligible doctoral and master's students with funding to present their research at national and international conferences in their field of study. By presenting at conferences, students learn how to communicate about their research and have an opportunity to build their professional and academic networks.

The Graduate Conference Fund should be viewed as a partial source of funding that is supplemented by other funding sources, such as professional organizations and a student’s academic unit.

Eligibility 

In order to be eligible to receive Graduate Conference Funding, students must be enrolled full-time in a Stevens graduate degree program, with a minimum grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 or higher. Master’s students must have completed at least one semester in their program and doctoral students must have completed at least four semesters in their program. 

Students who are not making satisfactory academic progress, are not in good standing with the university, are on probation, or who have pending or confirmed violations of the Graduate Student Code of Academic Integrity will not be considered for Graduate Conference Funding.

Award Limits

Doctoral students can receive up to $1,500 of funding, up to two (2) times during their academic career at Stevens. Master's students can receive up to $500 of funding, up to one (1) time during their academic career at Stevens. 

Graduate Conference Funding can only be used for conference registration fees, hotel accommodation, and transportation to and from the conference city. 

Graduate Conference Funding cannot be used for personal vehicles, rental vehicles, food or drinks, transportation within the conference city (outside of arrival and departure), or any other types of expenses. 

Only allowable expenses will be considered when calculating award amounts. Award amounts will not necessarily cover all allowable expenses. 

Required Documents 

Applications cannot be submitted without a Letter of Recommendation and a Personal Essay.  

Letter of Recommendation: The Letter of Recommendation must be written by a Stevens faculty member. The Letter of Recommendation should speak to the student's academic achievements and professional aspirations. If the academic unit is also providing the student with funding to attend the same conference, that should be specified in the letter. 

• NOTE: Students should request a Letter of Recommendation at least 3-4 weeks in advance of the date on which they are planning to submit their application, to allow adequate time for the faculty member to complete the request. If the faculty member who is writing your Letter of Recommendation prefers to submit the letter directly to the Office of Graduate Education, they can do so via email to [email protected].

Personal Essay: The Personal Essay must be written by the student who is applying for funding. The letter must be 300-500 words detailing how the student plans to participate in the conference and what the student hopes to gain from attending.

If for any reason, you are unable to upload a supporting document, you should email the documents to [email protected] on the same day that you submit your application. Any documents submitted via email must include the student's full name and CWID. Application deadlines will not be waived due to technical errors uploading documents.

Application & Award Process

Students must submit the Graduate Conference Funding Application online at least 60 days before a given conference is scheduled to begin. 

Once your application has been submitted, it will be reviewed by staff in the Office of Graduate Education. Applications are reviewed every once a month.

Applications will be reviewed, and funds will be awarded, based on four factors:

1. Whether a student is presenting at the conference

2. Content of the Letter of Recommendation

3. Content of the Personal Essay

4. Relevance of the conference to the student's field of study

Funding decisions will be communicated to students via their Stevens email address.

Reimbursement Details

All receipts and supporting documentation for reimbursement must be submitted to the Graduate Conference Funding Reimbursement Submission Form within 14 days of the conference's end date. If receipts are not submitted within this time frame, funding may be revoked.


Eligible students will receive their reimbursement check or deposit 4-6 weeks after they have submitted all of the required reimbursement documentation.

Detailed information about the reimbursement process can be found on this page of the Stevens Hub

Amounts paid or allowed to a student to aid such an individual in the pursuit of educational activity, study, or research may be taxable income according to IRS guidelines.