Travel Awards

Vivian with their poster
Vivian Palmer, Spring 2024 Awardee, presenting at the Conference of Undergraduate Women in Physics at Stanford, California. Photo courtesy of Vivian Palmer.

Travel funds support students who plan to actively participate in a conference, competition, immersive program, performance, workshop, or other type of meeting or congregation of the student's peers/professionals in their respective field. 

*Each semester, URSA reserves the right to reassess travel restrictions and UA travel policies, before deciding on whether to fund travel awards.*
  • Must be a degree-seeking undergraduate student
    Students of any year of study, from any UAF-affiliated campus, working toward an Occupational Endorsement, Certificate, Associate's Degree or Bachelor's Degree in any discipline are eligible to apply for URSA funding. Middle College students, graduated undergraduate students and graduate students are not eligible to apply.
    • UAF Campuses Include: Bristol Bay, Chukchi, CTC, Troth Yeddha’, Interior Alaska, Kuskokwim, Northwest
  • Registration:
    Students must be enrolled in at least 3 credits at any UAF-affiliated campus for the funded semester (Fall/Spring Awards). Summer Travel applicants must have be enrolled the Spring prior and Fall following the travel term.

  • GPA of 2.3 or higher
    Students with a GPA lower than 2.3 are not eligible.

  • Must have a confirmed mentor for the proposed travel or event registration.
    Faculty, post-doctoral researchers, graduate students, and staff may serve as URSA mentors. Mentors must confirm their participation via the URSA Mentor Confirmation form prior to the award deadline. 

  • Students are eligible to receive one Project Award (or be funded under a Mentor Award) and one travel award (fall, winter or spring) per academic year (Fall to Summer semester). This policy allows for a greater number of students to receive awards with limited URSA funds.                                 

Below are examples of previously funded opportunities:

  • Poster and paper presentations at conferences
  • Group or individual competition entries
  • Musical and theatrical workshops requiring performances

URSA will NOT fund:

  • Attendance to events without participation
  • Study Away Opportunities/ UAF Course Travel/ Opportunities for Credit
  • Skills workshops without a final product/ creative output

Don't see a similar event type as your opportunity listed above? Please contact the URSA Office to check the funding eligibility of your travel opportunity!

  • Your Mentor must complete the URSA Mentor Confirmation form prior to the application deadline.
  • Students must complete a Reflection Form by the end of each award period.
  • Final products to be submitted with the reflection form include:
    • 2-3 high resolution pictures and/or video from the travel event

IMPORTANT: Failure to submit a final evaluation or to submit final products will make the student ineligible to future URSA funding.

 

Japanese Language Group poses with awards at the competition

Group Travel Award, Spring 2023
Mentors: David Henry & Chisato Murakami

Mikkel Chynoweth, Ko Roberts, Bethany Cohen, Owen Bradley, and Robin Parker who received an URSA Group Travel Award this Spring to participate in the 18th Annual Alaska State Japanese Competition in Anchorage, Alaska.
 
Each Award Recipient received an award for their speech. In the Beginners’ Speech Contest, Bethany took first place, Robin took second, and Owen took third. In the Intermediate Speech Contest, Ko took third place and Mikkel took second place.
Sam poses with his poster at AGU.

Sam Dempster, Fall 2022
Mentor: Jessie Young-Robertson

Sam Dempster, Biological Sciences major, received an Individual Travel Award to attend the American Geophysical Union's (AGU) December 2022 meeting. AGU is one of the largest scientific conferences in the United States and welcomes more than 25,000 scientists to attend! While in attendance, Sam presented a poster based on his Fall 2022 URSA project, mentored by Dr. Jessica Young-Robertson, titled: Consequences of Shrub Expansion in the Boreal Forest: Quantifying Alder’s Seasonal Ecophysiological Dynamics.

"I was able to meet and network with many different scientists from around the world..., present my research to the same audience and get valuable feedback from many of them. I was also able to attend many different short lectures which provided very valuable information that will be useful to my job my future education."

Aero Club students take a hike in Tucson before heading home
Award Recipients Seth Thomas, Ethan Hoover, Micah VanderHart, Casey Lambries, Jasmin Holst, and Kathryn Finley (Wyatt Richards not pictured) on a hike before flying home.

UAF Aero Club, Spring 2023
Mentor: Michael Hatfield

UAF's Aero Club received a Spring 2023 Group Travel Award to compete at this year's Design-Build-Fly Competition in Tucson, Arizona which is organized by the American Institute of Aeronautics (AIAA)!

While at the competition, awardees met competitors from many schools, compared aircraft designs, and learned about the challenges other teams had to design as problems arose. "Being able to showcase our design and see what designs other teams came up with was a very cool experience as young engineering students."


Group of music students pose for a photo in Italy.
UAF Music students pose for a photo before performing in Acqui Terme, Italy.
 

 

Ariana Lopez & Olivia Buzby,
Summer 2023 Travel Awardees
Mentor: Jaunelle Celaire

Ariana and Olivia both received a Summer Travel Award to attend the Interharmony International Music Festival in Acqui Terme, Italy. The Festival, two weeks long, allowed students to study and perform with an internationally renowned Artist Faculty of soloists and chamber musicians. 

NABL accepting an award
Shaina, Aiyana, Marcelo, and Elise in Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas Nevada accepting the prize winnings from the AIBL business plan competition. Photo courtesy of Marcelo Ketzler-Lopez.

Native Alaskan Business Leaders (NABL) Club, Spring 2024 Award

Marcelo Ketzler-Lopez (Accounting), Shaina Atcherian (Applied Business), Elise Wood (One Health), Aiyana Fragoso (Business Administration)
Mentor: Jillian Bjornstad

This travel award allowed the Native Alaskan Business Leaders Club to attend the American Indigenous Business Leaders Conference, located in Las Vegas, Nevada, which is designed to give Indigenous students and professionals the opportunity to enhance and expand their educational experiences beyond what is taught through traditional academic methods. During the conference, students competed for prizes in business plans, community projects, and elevator pitches.  The UAF NABL student organization won the university division of the AIBL business plan competition for their presentation titled, "Yukon Harmony Veterinary Clinic Business Proposal."

"The event was extraordinary and was a wonderful experience for all of the members especially for those that had never attended such a large event let alone one specific to encouraging and supporting Alaska Natives and Indigenous Americans." 

Learn more about this presentation.