Objective: PLU travel grants provide funds to assist PLU members traveling to conferences and/or seminars to make presentations on behalf of the University and the Chemistry Department.

National travel grants are given by the National Chapter of PLU for scientific presentation or to promote Phi Lambda Upsilon.  National travel grants are funded through yearly chapter induction fees.  All Alpha Gamma (ΑΓ) and ΑΓ-International travel grants are given from ΑΓ chapter funds.  ΑΓ travel grants are given for scientific presentation in the United States while ΑΓ-International travel grants are given for scientific presentation outside of the United States.  Please see below for more information about eligibility and requirements.

Eligibility and Requirements: Travel grants are available only for PLU members of the Alpha Gamma Chapter of Northwestern University.  Each member may only receive one travel grant per academic year.  Travel grant applications are not transferable between conferences.

Travel Grant Selection Policy:

The below policy is used at the local level to nominate and rank members for National PLU travel grants and to select recipients of ΑΓ-International and ΑΓ travel grants. 

1. Applicants must be members of the ΑΓ chapter of PLU during the entire application process (including submission and approval).
2. Only PLU members who have documented service to the chapter will be considered for PLU travel grants.
3. Only PLU members who have attended all mandatory meetings in the last year will be eligible for travel grants.
4. Only PLU members presenting work will be considered for travel grants.
5. Only one PLU travel grant will be awarded to a member in one academic calendar year beginning and ending the first of September.
6. Only one National and one ΑΓ-International travel grant can be awarded to a PLU member during their time at Northwestern University.
7. An applicant can apply any time before the respective travel grant application deadline.  Preference will be given to applicants who are traveling in the current quarter.  But, if an application is not chosen due to these criteria, it will be retained for reconsideration in every successive quarter until the quarter in which the applicant is traveling.
8. Preference will be given for senior members of the department.
9. Preference will be given for applicants giving talks over applicants presenting posters.
10. Applicants are required to write a short paragraph explaining why it is important for them to receive this travel grant and/or why they are particularly deserving. Service to PLU and the general chemistry community should be included in this paragraph. All special circumstances including financial, seniority, opportunity, etc can be discussed here. 
11. Applicants who are not recommended for a National or ΑΓ-International travel grant can automatically be considered for a ΑΓ travel grant if the applicant wishes in accordance with the ΑΓ travel grant rules.

ΑΓ Travel Grants

1. Only PLU members who have documented service to the chapter in the last 12 months will be considered for ΑΓ travel grants.
2. $200 awards are given for any application chosen.

ΑΓ-International Travel Grants

1. The number of ΑΓ-International travel grants awarded per year will be four, two each semester.  If the maximum number of ΑΓ-International grants is not awarded for a given semester, the extra awards will be rolled over to the next semester within the same fiscal year.  These will be awarded the following semester in addition to the regularly scheduled awards.
2. $500 awards will be given for any international travel application chosen.
3. Applicants who do not receive an ΑΓ-International travel grant can be considered for a ΑΓ travel grant if the applicant wishes in accordance with the ΑΓ Travel Grant rules.

National Travel Grants

1. The number of National travel grants awarded per quarter will be the total allocated to our chapter from National PLU divided by 4.  If the maximum number of National grants is not awarded for a given quarter, the extra awards will be rolled over to the next quarter within the same fiscal year.  These will be awarded the following quarter in addition to the regularly scheduled awards.
2. Applicants who are chosen by the ΑΓ chapter to receive the National grant will be given the National application to fill out and submit.
3. $250 awards will be given from the National Chapter for the applications that are chosen.
4. Applicants who are not recommended for a National travel grant can be considered for a ΑΓ travel grant if the applicant wishes in accordance with the ΑΓ Travel Grant rules.

If you are interested in more details about National PLU Travel Grants, please visit the national website.

Application deadlines (2008-2009)

All travel grants must be submitted no later than one month before the date of travel.

ΑΓ: Grants for travel throughout the academic calendar year beginning and ending the first of September are awarded on a rolling basis, or until funds are depleted.  Under no circumstances will approval be given retroactively if an application is submitted after the conference has begun.  The final deadline for 2008/2009 ΑΓ travel grants is July 31, 2009.

ΑΓ-International: Grants are awarded biannually for travel during the Summer/Fall or Winter/Spring semesters.  The Winter/Spring grants are awarded for travel between January 1 and June 30 and Summer/Fall grants for travel between July 1 and December 31.  Under no circumstances will approval be given retroactively if an application is submitted after the conference has begun.  If a conference runs over two semesters, the application will be considered during the semester when the conference starts.

• Winter/Spring deadline is December 31st for travel between January 1st and June 30th
• Summer/Fall deadline is June 30th for travel between July 1st and December 31st

National:  Grants for travel are given out each quarter, the application deadline being the end of the previous quarter.  The range for each quarter and deadlines are given below.  Under no circumstances will approval be given retroactively if an application is submitted after the conference has begun.  If a conference runs over two quarters, the application will be considered during the quarter when the conference starts.

• Fall deadline is September 30th for travel between October 1st and December 31st
• Winter deadline is December 31st for travel between January 1st and March 31st
• Spring deadline is March 31st for travel between April 1st and June 30th
• Summer deadline is June 30th for travel between July 1st and September 30th

Award Notification: Each applicant will receive notice of a decision within four to six weeks after submitting an application.  An email will notify the student of the dollar amount of the award.  If you are to receive a National Travel Grant, the National application will be forwarded to you at that time.

ΑΓ and ΑΓ-International Reimbursement:  Please submit to the treasurer a photocopy of the reimbursement form that you give to the business office by the first day of the quarter immediately AFTER travel is completed (or within seven days of completing travel, whichever is later).  If PLU is your only source of funding, please submit the same form to the treasurer along with receipts and zeros in the other rows.  On the reimbursement form please list the amount of the PLU travel grant as a negative figure in the miscellaneous box.  For example, if you received $200 from PLU, list it as “-200 PLU Travel Grant” in the appropriate section.  For ΑΓ grants you will receive a check within a week of submitting your form.

National Reimbursement:   If you are the recipient of a National travel grant, the National organization will send your check to the address supplied in your National application. Please allow 4 to 6 months for processing of National travel grants.  If there is a problem with your National Travel Grant please contact the National officers as the ΑΓ chapter is not responsible for your reimbursement.  If you happen to be leaving the department before your check is awarded, please make sure to leave a forwarding address with the current chapter president.

Submissions: Please fill out the 2008/09 application and send it to the chapter awards chair via email and submit a hard copy in their departmental mailbox.

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