Travel Assistance

SDSS-III Astronomer Travel Assistance Fund Guidelines for CY 2011 through 2014

The SDSS-III Astronomer Travel Assistance Fund is administered through the ARC Corporate Office subject to specific guidelines as follows:

INTENT: To support the travel of younger astronomers (broadly interpreted) to SDSS-III Collaboration meetings, including those held outside of the United States, and the travel of speakers selected by the SDSS-III to present SDSS-III data/results at meetings of the AAS, the APS, or equivalent professional societies in other countries.

WHO IS ELIGIBLE: Younger astronomers (broadly interpreted) employed by SDSS-III voting institutions and participation groups who would otherwise not be able to attend the meeting. Preference will be given to individuals who have made significant contributions to SDSS-III, but this is not a requirement and new SDSS-III partners are encouraged to use this funding to send their young astronomers to collaboration meetings to learn more about the SDSS-III. There will generally be no more than $1000 awarded to travelers from a given institution or participation group per year.

The SDSS-III voting institutions are the ones listed in the SDSS-III boilerplate.

APPLICATION PROCEDURES: The availability of the Fund is being announced through sdss3-general, including a standardized application form. Applications are reviewed by a small panel consisting of the ARC Business Manager, the SDSS-III Project Scientist, and the SDSS-III Spokesperson. Apply as early as is practical. The deadline for submitting applications is thirty (30) days prior to the start of the meeting funding is requested for.

AWARD: The amount of awards may vary depending on circumstances but generally will not exceed $1,000 for foreign travel or $500 for travel within the traveler’s home country. The amount awarded may be used for the actual cost of air fare, hotel, meals, and necessary ground transportation. The amount approved will be provided to the applicant by the ARC Business Manager about ten (10) days prior to the start of the travel. The travel funding allocated to each voting member institution for CY2011 through CY2014 is $3,000 total. The CoCo representative from each voting member institution will establish how much of the $3,000 will be spent in each calendar year.

RECEIPTS: Within ten (10) days after the travel is completed, the traveler will provide supporting receipts and a brief report of the trip to the ARC Business Manager.

SDSS Travel Assistance Application (via email)

Your email message should include following items:

1. Name & Title:

2. Home Institution:

3. Trip dates: mm/dd/yy through mm/dd/yy

4. Purpose of trip: (include meeting title, city, state and country).

5. Estimated trip expenses: (airfare, hotel, car rental, registration fees, per diem, etc.)

6. Amount requested from SDSS-III Travel Assistance Fund.

7. Matching or other travel funds available. Please list amounts for 5-7 in U.S. dollars, even if the expenses will be incurred in another currency.

8. Applicant’s contribution to the SDSS (1-2 paragraphs). Students and postdocs may arrange for their sponsor to send supporting information in a separate email message.

9. Endorsement: To ensure awareness of the amount that has been awarded to a given institution during the year, applicants should request that their institutional representative to the Collaboration Council (CoCo) send a brief, separate email endorsing the application. If the CoCo rep is unavailable, then an email from the department chair is an acceptable substitution, but the CoCo rep should be informed of the request.

Email the completed application to Mike Evans, ARC Business Manager, evansm@uw.edu, with the subject “Request for SDSS Travel Assistance”. The CoCo rep endorsement and any supporting information from a student or postdoctoral sponsor should be sent by email to the same address.

Following a Panel decision, the ARC Business Manager will inform the applicant of the award as promptly as possible.