Travelling to conferences and workshops is an integral part of the research process. By presenting your work and attending presentations, you are able to connect with the broader research community as well as leaders in your field.
This page is intended to outline some basic instructions and expectations for student travel.
Submitting an abstract
Abstract submission deadlines for a conference are usually at least 2 months, and often up to 9 months prior to the conference date. Therefore, you need to plan ahead if there is a conference you want to attend. Make sure that you communicate with Dr Runnels prior to submitting an abstract – you should always get written confirmation from him that there are travel funds available first.
Abstract guidelines vary greatly between fields. Some conferences only require a couple hundred words, others require a draft of a paper. If you are planning to submit to a conference, make sure you give yourself plenty of lead time to prepare. When preparing your abstract share it with Dr Runnels either using Overleaf or Google Drive.
It can be difficult to know how to write an abstract for work that will be presented more than half a year later. You should make a good but guess for where you think your work will be at the time, and write your
Requesting student travel funding
Even though your travel is likely funded through a grant, you are expected to pursue any available opportunities to help cover the cost of your travel. This will help to make the most of the available travel funds, opening up as many travel opportunities to students in the group. There are two main sources of travel funding available:
- Internal UCCS travel funds: The specific opportunities change frequently, but are generally made available on this page: https://graduateschool.uccs.edu/uccs-finances/finance-resources
- Conference travel scholarships: Most conferences offer travel fellowships/scholarships to graduate students and early career researchers. Information on these will be posted on the conference website.
Once you submit your abstract, your investigate both of these options. Send an update by email or slack to Dr Runnels either (i) letting him know which you are applying for or (ii) why you are not eligible for either. You are not expected to win every fellowship available to you, but you are expected to make an attempt.
Creating your presentation/poster
You should always plan to have your presentation or poster ready at least two weeks prior to the conference. Remember that you can usually tweak your presentation up to the last minute, but a poster must be printed in advance. Use our group template for all presentations and posters. (Both are available in the “Template gallery” when you go to slides.google.com and log in with your solids.group credentials.)
Be sure that you are familiar with the time limit for your talk. The usual length of a conference talk is 15 to 20 minutes, including questions. The conference website will let you know much time you have. Make sure that you have thoroughly practiced your talk in front of the mirror and for friends before the conference. A good rule of thumb is to have practiced your talk at least 10 times before your presentation – especially if this is your first time presenting at a conference.
Booking your travel
Make sure that you communicate your travel plans with Dr Runnels early. Sometimes you may need to arrive late or leave early, or you might have other special circumstances affecting your plans. Make sure that these are communicated early. To make specific travel arrangements, see below:
Accommodations: We will generally book a hotel at the conference venue. If you are arriving at the conference before Dr Runnels, you may need to use your credit card (for incidentals) when you check in to the room. However, the actual lodging expense will always go to the CU travel card.
Conference registration: You will not generally be required to register for the conference yourself. This will generally be done by the department directly. If you do need to register yourself, then you can request reimbursement.
Airfare: There are three ways to book your airline tickets.
- Book yourself and request reimbursement
This is usually the easiest option, especially if you are receiving a travel award. However, if you pursue this option, you must request a quote from Christopherson Business Travel (CBT) for your itinerary. To do this, simply send an email to trips@cbtravel.com with your itinerary and ask them to confirm the amount. (I personally use flights.google.com to book and then “share” the itinerary as a link.) UCCS policy will only allow us to reimburse up to the amount quoted by CBT, so make sure that you get the quote beforehand. You will then be reimbursed for your trip (instructions below). - Ask CBT to book for you
If you go with this option, send your itinerary to trips@cbtravel.com and they will book your airfare for you. You can only do this if you know what speedtype you will be charging your travel to – Dr Runnels will let you know. - Book through concur
You can book your flight directly through concur. If you do this, you will need the speedtype.
Ground Transportation: We generally use Uber, especially when the conference is at an urban venue and parking is expensive. If you use Uber, you will need to save your receipts and turn them in to be reimbursed.
Per Diem: You may be eligible to receive a travel per diem, depending on the trip type and travel funding. Dr Runnels will discuss this with you when
At the conference
Attire: Dress professionally. For men, this means dress shoes, slacks, dress shirt, and a sport jacket. A tie is encouraged but optional. A suit is fine but also optional. For women, this means conservative, business-appropriate denim, dresses, skirts, blazers, etc.
Conduct: Keep it professional at all times.
Activities: You’re expected to attend and be engaged in conference activities. That does not mean that you need to optimize your schedule to hit every single relevant talk, but you should make an effort to go through the program and find sessions that are relevant to you. That said, sometimes you get into a good technical discussion with people you meet at the conference and you spend the afternoon talking with them instead of sitting in sessions. That’s good and encouraged – this is the way you get to know people, to form new ideas, to make contacts. Just make sure that you make the most of your time.
Giving your presentation: You will usually be expected to bring your laptop to give your presentation. Make sure you have suitable adapters and that your laptop is charged. Also, keep in mind that conference venues often have poor internet or sometimes no internet at all. Make sure you have an offline version of your presentation ready to go, and make sure you’ve done a test run with no connection. Arrive early for the session you are presenting in. This will give you an opportunity to meet the session char and test-run your equipment. (Some conferences have a meet-and-greet time built in specifically for this purpose.)
Presenting your poster: Make sure you have set up and displayed your poster well in advance of the poster session. Be sure you are present with your poster during the entire session, and available to answer any questions that visitors may have. You should have a rehearsed ~5 minute talk ready to go, so when someone drops by your poster you can guide them through it.
Recreation: You are welcome and encouraged to have fun! Conferences are often in nice places, so feel free to take advantage of it and explore. This is a good opportunity to relax and recharge (conferences can be exhausting) or to get to know other people in a more relaxed setting.
Requesting reimbursement
All reimbursements are processed through the MAE office. Usually, they do not get processed until after the trip is concluded. Send your receipts to the MAE office and be sure to copy Dr Runnels on all correspondence.
If you are receiving a travel award, either internally or from the conference, you should request reimbursement from the award source first. If the award comes through UCCS, it will sometimes get processed through financial aid. If the award come externally, it will probably be in the form of a check. Make sure you notify Stephanie that you received the award, so that we can deduct that amount from your reimbursement.
Cancellation
When you commit to present a conference, you are expected to attend. Cancellations due to illness, family emergency, etc., are completely understandable. However, if your cancellation is not due to a legitimate reason, you may be held responsible for any or all of the travel costs incurred. This may result in your not being reimbursed for expenses, or having the amount deducted from your stipend. You should always make sure that you are serious about attending a conference before you commit to it.