The Graduate College is pleased to announce the awardees of the Fall 2017 Dissertation Travel Grant and Master’s Project Travel Grant. With the help of these Travel Grants, students have the opportunity to conduct dissertation research or complete master’s projects in destinations across the world. Twenty-two departments from across campus submitted a total of 34 nominations and, of those, 17 nominations from 15 departments were selected for awards.
2017 Dissertation Travel Grant Awardees, including program and destination:
- Nicholas Anderson (Entomology) – Washington University in St. Louis’ Tyson Research Center, Missouri
- Noelle Belanger (Art & Design) – New York: American Museum of Natural History.
- Chung-Yu Chen (Linguistics) – California, Taiwan, and China: University of California at Los Angeles, National Taiwan University, and Beijing Language and Culture University.
- Maria Fox (Anthropology) – Tennessee: University of Tennessee at Knoxville.
- Megan Gargiulo (Spanish & Portuguese) – Mexico: Mexico City, Puebla, and Veracruz.
- Saniya Lee Ghanoui (History) – Sweden: Swedish National Library, Gothenburg University, and Lund University.
- Jason Gleditsch (Natural Resources & Environmental Sciences) – Hawaii: field sites in O’ahu.
- Jean Larmon (Anthropology) – Belize: Cara Blanca.
- Lisa Ortiz (Education Policy, Organization & Leadership) – Puerto Rico: Jayuya.
- Najat Qashua (Social Work) – Jordan: Amman and Irbid.
- Stephen Sherman (Urban & Regional Planning) – Georgia (USA): Georgia Tech, Georgia State University, and other locations in Atlanta.
- David Tokarz (Communication) – Georgia, Virginia, and Washington, DC: University of Georgia, University of Virginia, and the Library of Congress.
- John Trimmer (Civil & Environmental Engineering) – Uganda: Kiryandongo Refugee Settlement.
2017 Master’s Travel Grant Awardees, including program and destination:
- Sydney Blefko (Music) – Recording Studios in San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Alexandra Ford (Ecology, Evolution & Conservation Biology) – Austria: University of Veterinary Medicine in Vienna.
- Melinh Lai (Psychology) – New Zealand: University of Auckland.
- Evan Newman (Entomology) – Indiana: multiple field sites.
Ken Vickery, Director of Fellowships says, “The nominations for Travel Grants this semester were especially exciting, with destinations including sites in the United States as well as Belize, Puerto Rico, Sweden, Austria, Jordan, Uganda, New Zealand, and Taiwan. For many students, fieldwork is essential for their research, yet it can be expensive, especially if the fieldwork is overseas. The Graduate College recognizes this and is pleased to help defray some of the costs through our Travel Grants.”
Dissertation Travel Grants provide reimbursement to subsidize travel and associated costs necessary for doctoral dissertation research, whether for exploring a potential dissertation topic or for conducting dissertation research. Students must be nominated by their department, and departments may nominate up to three students each. Grants are awarded at amounts up to $5,000.
Master’s Project Travel Grants provide reimbursement to Illinois students for travel-related costs incurred for the completion of an off-campus, short-term project required of one of the University’s master’s degree programs. Students must be nominated by their department, and departments may nominate up to three students each. Grants are awarded at amounts up to $500.
The competition included two stages of review. Each nomination was first reviewed by one of the Fellowship Board’s four Area Committees, then finalists were reviewed by the Executive Committee. Each Area Committee is comprised exclusively of faculty members; the Executive Committee is comprised of faculty along with two graduate students.
For more information about these awards visit the listings in the Graduate College’s Fellowship Finder database.