Major Observations
One of the chief frustrations for the historian is
that we generally must travel (to archives, conferences, etc.) to do our
jobs, but often we lack the resources to pay for these trips. There
is no magic secret to getting travel funds, and much depends on the nature
of the work and the field of study, but here are some fundamental things
to keep in mind:
- Do Your Research. There
are many pots of money out there and many resources available to help
you find them, but it takes some energy to identify likely funding sources
(either at UF or beyond).
- Plan Ahead. If
you know that you are going to be traveling in the future you should do
that research well in advance. Some deadlines come early.
- Learn to describe your project clearly and concisely. The
people who assess your applications for funding will rarely be specialists
in your own field. So you should be able to explain your research
project or travel needs to an intelligent person who knows nothing of your
research interests. This might mean having several different
versions of the same research project, tailored for different sorts of
audiences.
- Be creative in thinking about your field of
research. Some
granting agencies offer awards for particular areas of work (“religion
and society,’ “politics in the public sphere,” etc).
It may be that your entire project does not fit the designated topic very
closely, but some aspect of your work or a particular chapter of the dissertation
could fit the bill.
- Money sometimes breeds money. Don’t
turn your nose up at relatively small grants and fellowships. They
can look good on a resume while establishing that you have a track record
of receiving grants.
Resources
Here are some things to consider as you start your search for funds.
- The Department’s Web page includes a long list
of funding agencies under “Graduate
Studies: Information for
Current Graduate Students.” This list is certainly not
exhaustive but it is definitely worth spending some time working through
this list. You
will note that in addition to specific funding agencies, there are also
links to excellent resources (like H-Net, and the AHA). You should
certainly make it a habit to check H-Net regularly.
- Check to see if the archives you wish to visit
or the conference you wish to attend has travel funds. Many
archives (some listed on the link above) offer short term travel to collection
grants. Many
conferences have special fellowships for graduate students. In
2006-2007 several students won travel awards from conferences.
- The History Department has limited resources to
support student travel. These
include:
- Departmental funds from our annual operating
budget. These
vary from year to year depending on available resources. Watch
your email for announcements.
- History Graduate Society funds. The HGS has
access to travel funds, both from university sources and from its own
fund-raising efforts. In
the recent past these funds have been distributed in conjunction with
departmental funds.
- Milbauer travel funds. These are
controlled by Dr. Link, the Milbauer Professor.
- Dissertation Research Prizes. Each year the
department gives out several prizes to students who are engaged in dissertation
research. These are generally given to students who
have just passed their Qualifying Examinations.
- CLAS stages competitions for travel funds in the
fall and spring. Watch
your email for deadlines. The CLAS travel fund form (in
both Word and PDF formats) can be found here on the CLAS
webpage. It is
also available here.
The UF resources include:
