Support for travel

The College of Science Student Travel Fund (COSSTA) awards are for students in the College of Science who need financial support to attend professional conferences to present their research findings and will help cover certain costs associated with presenting their scholarly work at academic conferences and meetings. These funds are intended to help undergraduate and graduate students take advantage of presentation opportunities to highlight the outstanding academic work of our scholarly community, and ultimately support student success

Award details

COSSTA funds are administered in the Dean’s Office and awarded quarterly. A departmental or grant match is required.

Important: The departmental award or grant match is not administered by the Dean’s office. Please contact the awarding department for more information. The awarding department may grant awards by providing recipients with an index or activity code that can be used to pay for travel expenses via OSU travel booking systems or to reimburse expenses associated with conferences.

The COSSTA awards are granted in the form of a scholarship and recipients may receive up to $500 per academic year. All funding awards are subject to the availability of funds. These funds are designed to help students defray some of the expenses related to attending conferences.

Recipients will receive notification via email. It is advisable to consult with an OSU Financial Aid advisor before accepting any scholarships, as it may affect your financial aid package. Any award will be deposited into the recipient’s student account during the term in which the conference occurs and applied first to any outstanding balance. Any remaining available balance will be issued as refunds after the balance has been cleared. The disbursement process will adhere to the guidelines established by the Office of Financial Aid and Student Account Services. For inquiries regarding your student account, including outstanding balances, please contact Student Account Services.

Please Note: As we typically receive a high volume of requests, we are not able to approve every application, and requests will be evaluated using the criteria detailed below. Students are advised to seek additional avenues for funding provided by their departments and the Graduate School.

Eligibility

We are only able to provide support for students in the College of Science.

COSSTA funds may only be used for student travel as indicated below:

Graduate Students

The following guidelines will apply

• Travel must be to an international conference or workshop hosted outside the United States for the purpose of making a presentation.
• The student must be listed as the sole author/presenter, first or lead author/presenter, or serving in a capacity whereby they are responsible for significant leadership for the overall session. Materials must have been accepted by the conference/meeting at the time of the request.
• The student must be a current master’s or doctoral student in the College of Science at Oregon State University and be making satisfactory academic progress as determined by the student’s graduate program.
• The student must be enrolled in at least 3 graduate credits at OSU at the time of awarding and disbursement.

Undergraduate Students

The following guidelines will apply

• Travel can be academic travel for undergraduates for the purpose of attending a conference or workshop and making a presentation (poster or talk). Preference will be given for international travel, in case of a high volume of applications.
• The student must be a current student in the College of Science at Oregon State University and be making satisfactory academic progress as determined by the student’s program/ academic advisor.
• The student must be enrolled in at least 3 credits at OSU at the time of awarding and disbursement.

Eligible Costs

Examples of qualifying costs for reimbursement include:

• Conference/meeting fees
• Professional organization membership fees
• Poster printing costs
• Transportation costs (flights, ground transportation)
• Lodging, and food expenses
• Other expenses that are specific to this travel (please justify)

This award is intended to provide funding that would not normally be available from other sources.

Application

The COSSTA Application is an online form linked below. In addition to basic information about you and your travel, please prepare the following materials before filling out the form:

1. Statement - 500 words maximum
   A detailed statement from the student describing in their own words (a) the importance of the meeting/conference relative to their academic field of study, (b) how the proposed activity contributes to their academic and professional goals, and (c) an overview of the research they will be presenting.
2. Biographical sketch - 2 page maximum
   A copy of the student’s résumé or curriculum vitae in a format similar to this biosketch template (docx).
3. Proof of Presentation
   A copy of the listing of the presentation in the schedule of events in pdf format.
4. Endorsement - 1 page maximum
   Signed letter on OSU letterhead from the student's academic/research advisor, department head, program director, or unit chair/head that (a) relates the importance of the particular meeting/conference, (b) describes the student’s scholarly contribution to the presentation, (c) confirms that the student has made satisfactory academic progress and meets the eligibility requirements above and (d) an index number for matching funds.
5. Estimated Budget
   Provide a simple budget of expected travel-related expenses from the eligible cost list above.

Selection criteria and proposal evaluation

Proposals will be judged primarily on the basis of potential for student success and growth from the conference experience, the strength of the student’s statement of participation, the expression of faculty or advisor support, and evidence of factors such as student maturity, responsibility, initiative, motivation, leadership, and grit. Reviewers will also consider the prestige of the conference and the potential for broad, positive impact on the research enterprise of the College of Science and Oregon State University.

Proposals will be evaluated by an ad-hoc Student Travel Fund Review Panel.

Deadlines

Requests for travel awards are accepted via the application portal each quarter throughout the academic year for expected travel in the following quarter, subject to funding availability per term. This opportunity is solely for conferences in the upcoming term, and retroactive awards after the event will not be considered.

All applications are due by midnight of the deadlines shown below. Although requests will be accepted through the ‘late application deadline’, first consideration for award will be made on requests submitted before the ‘application deadline’ shown below.

Summer Term 2026 Conferences

• Applications accepted beginning May 4, 2026
• Application deadline May 18, 2026
• Late application deadline June 15, 2026
• Notification of awards expected by June 1, 2026

Fall Term 2026 Conferences

• Applications accepted beginning August 10, 2026
• Application deadline August 24, 2026
• Late application deadline August 31, 2026
• Notification of awards expected by September 8, 2026

Winter Term 2027 Conferences

• Applications accepted beginning November 23, 2026
• Application deadline December 7, 2026
• Late application deadline December 14, 2026
• Notification of awards expected by December 21, 2026

Spring Term 2027 Conferences

• Applications accepted beginning February 16, 2027
• Application deadline March 1, 2027
• Late application deadline March 8, 2027
• Notification of awards expected by March 15, 2027

Summer Term 2027 Conferences

• Applications accepted beginning May 3, 2027
• Application deadline May 17, 2027
• Late application deadline May 24, 2027
• Notification of awards expected by June 1, 2027

Award

A typical award amount is $500, and all funding awards are subject to availability of funds. Recipients will be notified via email, and any award will be deposited into the student’s account. The award disbursement process will follow the guidelines set forth by the Office of Financial Aid and Student Account Services.

Reporting

The COSSTA scholarships are made possible by the generosity of our donors, and it is incredibly meaningful for donors to learn about the students their gifts support. The Office of the Dean requires that students who receive a COSSTA award submit the following:

• A thank you message to the donors at the time of accepting the award (link will be provided).
• A one-page report (pdf or Word format only) on project accomplishments within 30 days of completing the travel.

Please note: Lack of completion of the thank you note will result in a decline of the award, and lack of a post-travel report may affect future consideration of any COSSTA awards.

All recipients should submit a one-page report to Research and Graduate Programs Coordinator, Jeff Hare (hareje@oregonstate.edu) within 30 days after the end of travel.

Need help?

Please send any questions to Jeff Hare (hareje@oregonstate.edu) and the College of Science Research Development Unit (research.development@science.oregonstate.edu)