Financial Assistance

Nasir Al Mulk Mosque Shiraz

Scholarly Travel

The Department of Near Eastern Studies provides funding for scholarly travel to NES G2-G5 graduate students in good standing who are invited to deliver a paper at a conference or are attending the Middle Eastern Studies Association conference for interviews. 

Requests for funds totaling up to $1,000 per year for Pre-Generals students, and up to $1,500 per year for Post-Generals students will be available for travel and/or lodging costs incurred while participating in a conference. (These funds will not, however, roll over from one year to the next, nor is there a guarantee that full funding will be awarded.)

Up to $1,000 will be available on a one-time basis for 5th-year or 1st-year DCE students to travel to MESA, the American Academy of Religion (AAR) or other similar conferences for interviews. 

Alternative funding support up to $500 will be available once during the entirety of your time in the department to attend an academic conference within your field of study without presenting a paper. Accepting this alternative support precludes later request for funding to attend a conference to deliver a paper in the same academic year.  This alternative support is open only to PhD candidates.

In order to apply, please visit SAFE, a central resource for graduate students and student groups to seek funding for certain academic and professional development activities. 

The following must be submitted through SAFE for a complete application:

  • Brief statement indicating the reason for attending the conference and the importance of the conference to continued academic progress.
  • A copy of the letter/email stating that the paper has been accepted to the conference or a copy of the conference program where student’s name and paper title appear with the date and time.
  • Name, dates and location of the conference.
  • Title of student’s paper/presentation.
  • Estimated budget with total amount requested.
  • Letter of support from adviser.


Please contact Angela Bryant ([email protected]) with any questions about NES Scholarly Travel grants.

For information about funding from the Graduate School available in the G3-G5 years, please refer to Additional Scholarly Travel Funding.

Travel grants are taxable.  Please refer to Scholarships & Fellowships for more information.  Any unused money should be returned to the department.

Awards will be paid in advance based on your estimated expenses. All receipts of expenses totaling awarded amount must be uploaded in the post project requirement section of your project within 10 days of your return date.  Unused funds must be returned to the department.

To learn additional information about Graduate costs and funding, please visit Graduate Cost and Funding on the Graduate School website.