Every year, $26,000 is given to professional students at Ohio State to help pay for the costs of professional conferences. The Professional Development Fund, an endowment through the Council of Graduate Students at OSU, is one way for students to receive aid to present their research at conferences.

“It is quite competitive, and you have to spend some time filling out the application and justify why you should go,” said Mike Harrower, a graduate student in anthropology and PDF recipient.

“Students are chosen on two grounds. One, they show the ability to communicate their research to the general public, and two, what kind of service activities they participate in as a graduate student,” said Mike Daniels, a graduate student in linguistics and chair of the PDF committee.

College departments also have travel scholarships available for their students.

Most departments have very limited funds and are not able to financially support all of the students interested in presenting at conferences. These funds are somewhat more restricted and cannot support the same amount of students per year as the PDF.

“There have been budget cuts in the department for travel, but the PDF is great and the committee can expect to hear from me again,” said Susan Hanson, a graduate student in English and PDF recipient.

For the PDF, applications must be submitted to the committee one quarter before the event. During autumn quarter, 50 students applied for money from the fund and 15 were awarded funds.

An important aspect of doing graduate research is being able to present and promote your research to other professionals nationwide, as well as worldwide.

“Conferences get us the exposure we need to be successful,” said Stace Rierson, a graduate student in education and PDF recipient.

The PDF started when OSU entered a contract with Coca-Cola.

The Undergraduate Student Government, the CGS and the Inter Professional Council were all given money from the contract, and CGS uses its share to fund the PDF.

“I was presenting at an out-of-state conference and was looking for some way to help pay for conference costs,” said Amy Harley, a graduate student in public health and PDF recipient.

Harley attended the American Public Health Association Conference in Philadelphia, where she presented her study on body mass index in ethnically diverse populations to other students, professors and reseachers.

The maximum amount a student can receive from the PDF in one academic year is $450. The money can be used towards conference registration, travel, accomodations and transportation. Food and personal expenses are not covered.

Rierson applied for the full amount of the PDF and received all she asked for, but it did not cover 100 percent of her travel costs to the National Council for the Social Studies in Arizona last fall.

“Probably $100 out-of-pocket expenses for food and overheads,” Rierson said. “It is very worth it and a pretty small price to pay for a great conference.”

When applying for the fund, students should submit an itemized travel budget along with their application. The student pays for the entire trip and turns in all original receipts to the PDF committee after returning from the conference. Then the student is reimbursed for their actual trip expenses based on receipts.

Harrower attended two professional conferences last year. The first one he paid for using PDF money, and he received support from his department for the second conference.

Daniels said the goal of the fund is to promote the work of graduate students and help get their names recognized among professionals.

“We want to help put someone in a better professional position directly,” he said.

Daniels expects the $450 cap on the fund to be raised and to receive more applications for the scholarship in part because of support from Provost Edward Ray, who has announced he will augment the PDF.

“We want to keep the program at a selective level and still help get the research out there,” Daniels said.