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Graduate Research and Travel Awards

The International Institute awards yearly Graduate Student, enrolled in a Ph.D. program, Research and Travel Fellowships to partially offset dissertation research travel expenses incurred in the U.S. or abroad. Applications will be accepted from any PhD discipline as long as the research deals with international or global issues, cross-national comparisons, or research on particular societies, and also has a substantial human or societal dimension. Travel is usually undertaken in the summer, but can also be conducted during the academic year. 

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The International Institute is currently accepting applications for the 2025-26 Graduate Student Research and Travel Grants. The awards are intended to partially offset dissertation research travel expenses incurred in the U.S. or abroad.

Supported research should be about other societies rather than simply conducted in other societies. Applications will be accepted from any discipline as long as it deals with international or global issues, cross-national comparisons, or research on particular societies and also has a substantial human or societal dimension. Implications for public policy should be made explicit.

Awards are intended for research travel between June 1, 2025 and December 30th, 2025, and typically range between $1500 to $2,500. Funds may be used for travel, research assistance, and in some cases supplies such as cameras or recording devices. Human Subjects Protection: If research involves human subjects, students are responsible for procuring Institutional Review Board approval prior to conducting research. For more information, please speak with your faculty advisor and consult the Human Research Protection Program website https://irb.ucsd.edu.

Applications

Applications are due no later than Monday, March 17th, 2025. Please complete an application via Kuali Forms.

Criteria for Selection:

  • A topic that will increase knowledge about an issue of important international concern.
  • An interdisciplinary, inter-divisional, and/or comparative subject. (Cross-regional projects are particularly encouraged; multi-country comparative projects also satisfy this criterion)
  • Intellectual originality and breadth.
  • Clarity / strength of research plan, design and methodology.

Students must submit the following information in one pdf (use Acrobat Pro to combine PDF documents).

  1. Project description (no more than 1000 words), including timetable or itinerary. The description should be written in a manner that is accessible across disciplines.
  2. One-page budget estimate.
  3. Curriculum vitae (CV)

    In addition, candidates should arrange for a UC San Diego faculty member familiar with the student's work to submit a letter of recommendation separately to iiprogram@ucsd.edu.

Please address questions to:

iiprogram@ucsd.edu or Juan Pablo Pardo-Guerra (II director) at iidirector@ucsd.edu