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Costs & Aid

Cullen Fellowship Travel Grant

The Cullen Fellowship Travel Grant (CFTG) is a competitive fellowship program established to support graduate student travel to meetings, conferences, performances, and exhibits to showcase their research and scholarly work.  This travel grant program is designed both to enhance professional development opportunities for students and to further promote the status of the University of Houston as a Carnegie-designated Tier One research university.  The CFTG is open to all masters, doctorate, and professional students.

Amount

This fund is a reimbursement award. Students will be reimbursed upon submission of all required deliverables. The CFTG will cover up to $1000 of allowable travel expenses (e.g., lodging, transportation, and registration). 

Eligibility

The following minimum requirements must be met to qualify for the Cullen Fellowship Travel Grant:

  • The applicant’s work must be accepted to be presented at a competitive meeting, conference, performance, or exhibit. If the work has been submitted but an acceptance has not yet been received, the applicant may still submit a travel grant application; however, any award is contingent on acceptance. Only travel to the events with competitive selection criteria for the participants is supported by this travel grant;
  • Event dates must occur within the travel dates for the application term
  • Preference will be given to students who have not previously received travel grant funding. Students may only receive one travel award in a calendar year.

Application

Applicants must attach all the following documents, in order, as one PDF file. The file naming convention must be labeled as "Last Name, First Name (PeopleSoft ID)" through the ticket form below:
  • Curriculum Vitae (CV)- 2 page maximum
  • Abstract
  • Written description by the applicant of the event detailing the following: event selectivity, what it means to be “accepted” to the event, and the applicant’s research that will be presented (1 page maximum).  If students have previously received an award, they should justify the need for a second award.
  • Support letter from the applicant’s faculty advisor or graduate chair attesting the following: quality of the work presented, quality/prestige of the event, event selectivity, what it means to be “accepted”, and how the event participation is directly related to the applicant’s work at the University of Houston
  • Conference host letter (scanned copy of paper letter or email is acceptable) with the applicant’s name clearly listed as a presenter or performer to verify the student’s acceptance to participate in the event.

Cullen Fellowship Travel Grant Form

Deadlines

Due to the wide-ranging schedules of conferences, there is one deadline per term for Cullen Fellowship Travel Grant applications. There will be a 3-4 week review period following these deadlines. Applications must be received by 11:59PM CST on the deadline provided below. Applications should be for travel occurring after the application deadline

  • September 18, 2026 (for travel commencing on or after September 18, 2026)
  • February 8, 2027 (for travel commencing on or after February 8, 2027)

Selection Criteria

The following factors will be evaluated to determine the funding priority of applications:
  • The impact and selectivity of the conference.
  • The potential for the student to disseminate his/her work broadly through the conference.
  • The abstract and statement.
  • The student’s academic standing, research experience, and support letter.
  • Previous funding- students who have received a prior travel award from the Graduate School will be given lower priority for funding relative to students who have not previously received travel grant funding.

Deliverables

If selected, recipients must complete the following after travel in order to receive reimbursement:
  • Based on format presented at the event, submit the following corresponding document within 30 days for returning from travel:
    • Talk: Fully completed paper
    • Poster:PDF file of the poster
    • Workshop:A short story detailing the events of the workshop

  • Application and participation in the annual UH Graduate School research event (3MT and/or poster session).

    *If the recipient fails to apply/participate in the GRS event or an approved alternate event, the CFTG award may be revoked

Additional Resources

Traveling abroad? The Learning Abroad office at the University of Houston is officially designated as a U.S. Passport Acceptance Facility by the U.S. Department of State. Their acceptance agents are authorized to facilitate and receive your applications for a U.S. passport book and/or card. Visit the Passport for Coogs website for additional information.