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Funding to attend academic conferences: 2007-2009

Purpose

Academic staff of the Faculty may apply for financial contributions to the cost of registration, accommodation and airfares to attend and participate in academic conferences. (Note that a Professional Development Fund has been set up to support staff to develop their professional skills. The professional development fund is more modest than the conference fund and would not normally support international airfares.)

The primary purpose of this source of Faculty funding is to enhance the research expertise and profile of the individual staff member and the Faculty and this will form the prime criteria for determining whether funding will be granted.

In some circumstances, however, a case may be made that conference participation will make a significant and substantial contribution to the teaching activity of the Faculty in a way that supports its strategic priorities. In such cases, the Faculty Conference Travel Committee may approve funding from this source. (Funding for this purpose would normally be restricted to Australian/NZ conferences but exceptions may be made where the outcomes are likely to be substantial.)

Who is eligible?

Full-time and part-time academic and research staff may apply for funding from this source.

In applying for funding you need to describe the nature, relevance and academic quality of the conference and the nature of your participation in the conference. Note in particular that

  • the level of academic significance and relevance of the conference should be commensurate with the length of leave and funding sought
  • a higher level of academic merit and outcome for the activity will be expected for international travel given the normally greater costs involved in staff time and/or travel funds.


Consistent with the purpose above, funding will only be approved for travel to conferences of academic standing and where you will present a research oriented paper.

Where funding beyond $1250 is sought for a conference (typically for international travel), a refereed paper would normally be expected.

The Committee may waive the requirement to present a paper in the case of a staff member’s first conference attendance, where he or she makes a case supported by his/her supervisor, and the Committee is convinced that attendance at the conference would provide significant impetus to the staff member’s research productivity in future years.

Within one month of the conference, staff must provide one copy of their conference paper to the office of the Associate Dean (Staff). No subsequent applications will be considered if this requirement is not met.

Funding available

Each academic or research staff member employed at a fraction of 0.6 or above will be granted a notional ‘entitlement’ of $5500 over the three years 2007-2009. The entitlement is notional only, and cannot be converted into cash or used for any other purpose.

For staff employed at a fraction less than 0.6, the notional entitlement will be adjusted according to their staffing fraction.

The maximum funding granted for attendance at any one conference will be the sum of the Conference Registration Fee, the best available return fare to the conference destination at the time of travel, and a maximum of $100 per day for accommodation during the conference. Regardless of these costs, no more than $1250 can be allocated to a single Australian/New Zealand based conference and no more than $3000 to a conference based further afield.

The Committee will meet once each year to consider funding guidelines. In addition, it shall meet, as required, to consider funding applications outside the guidelines. The Associate Dean (Staff) may approve applications for later endorsement by the Committee, where the proposal is clearly within the guidelines.

Process

  • Where possible, start early and gain confirmation of funding and approval of leave before making travel or other commitments.
    • recreational leave is an entitlement but its timing must be approved
    • leave to attend conferences is not automatic
    • funding from the Conference Travel Fund is contingent upon certain criteria being met
  • Often staff applying for funds do so quite early, and the details of their leave may later change. In order to assure your leave, it is recommended that you apply when applying for funding, and later ask for variations on that leave if necessary.
  • Prior to the period of absence from campus (normally at least two weeks) academic staff should make arrangements to cover their teaching, supervision and administrative responsibilities.
  • Where funding is sought months before the period of travel, arrangements to cover teaching, supervision and administrative responsibilities may not be finalised. In this case, leave and funding will be approved contingent upon satisfactory arrangements being made by the staff member. This also applies to OSP.
  • For conference or research/professional leave complete the relevant components of the Faculty of Education Leave Forms A to D.
  • Attach the supporting information.
  • For recreational leave, long service leave, illness and other forms of leave complete the University Application for Leave form. It will be forwarded to HR after approval by the Faculty.
  • Obtain your supervisor’s recommendation and signature on all documents.
  • After you have your supervisor’s comments and signature, submit the completed application to the Associate Dean Staff (Peninsula or Clayton based staff) or Associate Dean Gippsland (Gippsland based staff).
  • Check that approval for leave has been given before proceeding on the leave. Approval of funding does not constitute approval of leave.

Application process

The faculty's Leave and Financial Support form (DOC 249KB) includes the following sections:

  • Leave Form A: Leave for conferences and research/professional work
  • Leave Form B: Request for financial support (if sought)
  • Leave Form C: Arrangements made to cover responsibilities
  • Leave Form D: International travel approval (if relevant) * updated Jan 2006

Applications for the Part B: Leave and Financial Support Form should be endorsed by your supervisor who must confirm that:

  • the conference is of academic significance and relevance
  • attendance at the conference is relevant to your academic work for the faculty and likely to enhance the advancement of your research (see purpose above for exceptional case)
  • you have made arrangements to cover your teaching, research supervision and administrative commitments

Applications should be accompanied by documentation demonstrating that a paper or abstract has been submitted to the conference. Any approval of funding given by the Committee is provisional, and only becomes effective when the applicant presents evidence that the paper has been accepted (e.g. a letter from the conference organisers, a copy of the conference program).

Prior to attending conferences, staff members must negotiate appropriate leave of absence and complete leave forms. These should be submitted to the Office of Associate Dean (Staff). No funds will be released until the Associate Dean (Staff) has received the appropriate leave forms.