LRES Student Conference Travel Application

Downloadable Application  

The aim of these funds is to provide financial assistance to undergraduates and graduates wishing to present their research, as a talk or poster, at a seminar/workshop or conference. Eligible expenses include registration, transportation and lodging. The research must have been performed with the guidance of a LRES faculty/staff member and pertain to the LRES disciplines. 

Application requirements: 

  1. An abstract of the work you plan to present complete with title, full author list and text. The text should be no longer than 250 words. 
  2. A short explanation (1‐2 paragraph) of why attending the meeting would be particularly beneficial for you.
  3. Copy of your transcript.
  4. A narrative budget of your requested sum. Include details of other support and money you may have raised, or applied for, from your faculty/staff sponsor or other source.

Application Dates: 

January 31st, April 30th, September 30th, November 30th and should be sent to: 

Jill Scarson (jscarson@montana.edu) , LRES Dept, 334 LJH, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT. 

Review Committee: LRES Student Nominations Committee – The committee will share their recommendations with the Department Head who will inform you of the decision within 2 weeks of the application deadline. 

Funds:  Funding may be as much as $500 per application.   

NOTE: College of Agriculture also has an open call with due dates: Nov. 15 & April 15 for following semester. Find details at:   http://agriculture.montana.edu/students/studentscholartravelawards.html

The Graduate School also has funding resources: http://montana.edu/gradschool/fellowships

Requirements of successful applications:

Submit a travel application form 2‐4 weeks before your travel and a post‐travel form including all receipts within 2 weeks of the meeting end date. Work with Stacie Rath (stacie.rath@montana.edu)  in the LRES Office to complete this.  

After the meeting/symposium etc. Submit a short (1‐2 paragraph) statement of what was educationally fulfilling about the meeting to the committee, how your presentation went reflecting on what you learnt from the process and delivery. Address the report to Dr. Geoff Poole (gpoole@montana.edu) within 2 weeks of the meeting end date.  

Undergraduate students without a Chrome River account must complete a Travel Authorization form. This form must be submitted to the LRES Department.

Graduate students with a Chrome River account

PreApproval travel forms are required for all out of state travel. In-state travel does not require a PreApproval unless you have high cost Montana lodging. The state rate is $96 a night, not including taxes.

Each traveler must submit their own individual PreApproval.  (Only students with no CR account still utilize the Travel Authorization form.  All grad students have CR accounts.)  You can submit a PreApproval by accessing your CR account at https://www.montana.edu/chromeriver/ .  You log in to Chrome River using your NetID and university password.  (NetIDs are comprised of seven characters: one letter-two numbers-one letter-three numbers – example A12B345 )

From the dashboard click on “+Create” located at the end of the dark blue ribbon on your Pre-Approval folder.  

Here is an example of how to complete the header page of your PreApproval request:

  • The report name is for your file record
  • Choose the start and end dates for your travel
  • The Business Purpose is important: Destination and purpose of the trip
  • You always need to choose the BZ-College of Agriculture on the report to route correctly to the Bozeman Campus
  • The travel type is either Out of State or In State (for high cost lodging)

You will need to know the specific index #s that will be funding your travel.  (This includes Grad School funding.)  Additionally, you need to request any expense that you anticipate will be paid for or reimbursed to you by MSU funding.  (Taxis, bag fees, airfare, rental car and fuel, registration fees, lodging, etcetera)   If an index or expense is not listed once your PreApproval is fully approved, you will need to complete an additional PreApproval for the index/expense not listed afterwards.

After saving the header page, you will see travel-type picture tiles to request specific travel expenses.

Conference Registration can be found be found under the Conference Seminar/Training picture tile.

Your per diem request is made under the Meals picture tile.  For overnight travel please chose the Meals-Per Diem Wizard (Multiple Days).