Application Deadline
Deadline for applications is at least 30 days prior to the date of departure. Applicants are encouraged to submit their applications as early as possible (two months or more) before anticipated travel.
Description
The Faculty Travel Fund supports travel by full-time faculty members to present results of research, scholarship, and/or creative works/presentations/performances at professional conferences/venues. Applications for funding are reviewed by a committee selected by the Office of the Vice Provost for Research and Scholarship (OVPRS). The selection process is very competitive. Funding is extremely limited and only about half of the eligible applications can be funded. The committee may elect to fund an application partially.
Eligibility
- Full-time UH Manoa faculty are eligible to apply. Visiting faculty, temporary faculty, non-compensated faculty, part-time faculty, lecturers, and graduate assistants are not eligible.
- Full-time faculty on sabbatical leave or on detached service, but still on the UH payroll, are eligible to apply. If awarded, funding should be used for travel from the place of sabbatical to the location of the professional conference/venue, it should not be used for travel from Hawai’i to the place of sabbatical. There should be a clear understanding that the sabbatical plan discloses the travel and that it is thereby approved.
- Faculty on leave without pay are not eligible to apply, since they are considered to be separated from the financial responsibility of UH.
- Travel support is not available for travel already completed. Any applications received for travel that has already completed, will not be reviewed and funds will not be distributed retroactively.
Terms of Award
- The scholarly work may NOT have been published or presented previously.
- The applicant must be the presenter of the scholarly work. Funding is available for only one presenter.
- The award will not exceed $2,000.
- Each applicant may receive only one award for one trip taken per fiscal year (July 1 to June 30).
- Funding is subject to the applicable University travel policy. E.g., receipts are required for all expenses (air, lodging and meals, ground transportation, and registration fees).
- Funding may be used only for a single conference. Additional costs to attend other conferences on the same trip are the responsibility of the faculty.
Required Documents
Incorrectly prepared applications will be rejected.
- A copy of the abstract originally submitted. Include names of all co-authors. Underline the name of the presenter.
- The proposed budget, including the estimated airfare, source of airfare quotation, conference price, estimated ground transportation price, estimated lodging and meals price, budget total, and amount of your request.
- Letter of invitation or acceptance of a contributed paper. If not available, attach explanation. Please note: A letter is not required at the time of application. Awards can be made pending receipt of a letter, before travel is commenced. However, no funding will be released until the letter is received by the OVPRS.
- A one-page, single-spaced statement describing your paper/presentation, the significance of the conference, the relevance of this paper/presentation to UH Mānoa strategic priorities (see pages 25-27), and why it is important that you present your paper at the conference.
- A list of trips to professional conferences during the past 24 months. Indicate source of funding for each trip.
- A list of publications, creative activities, extramural grants and awards during the past THREE YEARS, as well as any pending proposals. Indicate funding sources, award amounts, award period, date submitted, and whether you are the principal or co-investigator. DO NOT ATTACH CVs.
- NEW REQUIREMENT. Pursuant to the President’s and Vice President for Budget and Finance/Chief Financial Officer’s memo dated April 10, 2025 regarding “General Financial Planning to Support Operations Adjustments, Federal Extramural Funding, and Financial Mitigation Measures” and effective immediately, new policies are now in place regarding travel expenditures. Provide details on how the award application meets all criteria as listed in the memo, specifically:
– Urgency;
– Necessity, including for promotion and tenure considerations;
– Traveler’s role (annual conference attendee vs. active presenter, etc.); and
– Funding source and likelihood of reimbursement if grant-based.
Selection Criteria
- Applicant’s adherence to application guidelines.
- Priority will be given to new tenure-track faculty and to faculty who have not traveled on OVPRS funds during the previous year.
- Relevance to UH Mānoa strategic priorities (see pages 25-27).
- The significance of the conference. A priori, conferences of the national association or society in the applicant’s discipline are considered to be the most significant. However, proposed conferences may be at the regional, national or international level.
- Applicant’s record of professional productivity, as evidenced by refereed publications and other equivalent scholarly activity during the previous five years.
- Applicant’s record of extramural funding during the previous three years. Travel fund support comes from the return of indirect overhead. Priority will be given to proposals that can demonstrate that the presentation could potentially result in additional extramural funding.
- Applications partially supported by other sources of funds will be given priority.
N.B.
The OVPRS is reluctant to fund applications that members of the review committee are unable to understand. In their proposals, applicants should describe their presentations in terms that are clearly understandable to committee members who may not be familiar with the applicants’ disciplines.
Application Procedure
Please use our new InfoReady application website to apply. Select the Manoa Faculty Research Travel Fund Application and log in using your UH credentials.
Please check on your departmental guidelines in submitting an application. Note: the application does not get submitted to your Chair, Dean/Director, or your fiscal staff for approval. For conferences outside the United States and Canada, the applicant may request early consideration.
Awarded
- When the application is awarded an email is sent to the Traveler, Department Chair, Dean/Director and Fiscal Officer stating the amount and purpose of the award.
- Expenditures must follow University policies and procedures.
- The traveler must prepare a travel request following the University and Departmental guidelines. Attach a copy of the application and the award notice to the travel request.
- Upon return of the trip, prepare the travel completion following University and Departmental guidelines. Have your fiscal office submit a fully signed copy to OVPRS. Please note that only a copy of the fully signed travel completion form is required. Back-up information (i.e. copies of airfare, hotel receipts) is not necessary. Electronic submissions of the form to ovprs@hawaii.edu are welcome.
Re-budget
No re-budget request is necessary, as long as the funds are used towards the purpose of the award.
Declining / Return of an Award
Please inform OVPRS and your fiscal officer if you decide to decline or return the award so that other travel awards may be funded.