Conference funding applications

[Indecisive Poet]

Conference funding is not guaranteed at my MA program – I have to fill out an application and have it approved by the department. Part of this application is a short statement about how the conference will benefit my career and research development. I'm curious what you all write for this sort of thing/for conference bursary applications. Should I state the obvious about conferences generally being helpful experiences for graduate students? Should I go into detail about what sorts of extra activities the conference will be offering? The programs aren't available just yet for either of the conferences I'm planning to attend this summer so I can't write about any specific papers anyone is giving.

A side question: if I am awarded a grant, is that something I can list on my CV? As I mentioned, it's definitely an if scenario as it isn't at all guaranteed, but it would be coming directly from my university's English department.

Edited March 6, 2019 by Indecisive Poet

[WildeThing]

Yes, you can and should list it, at least until you have more substantial merits to include. As for the application, I think the foremost aspect to stress is how this will help develop your thesis. Talk about testing out your ideas and find similar talks you could benefit from or specific attendees you could talk to. If this is your first conference, or first conference of its kind (literary, regional, graduate, etc.), you could talk about gaining experience. Just keep in mind that if this is competitive (not all such funding is awarded based on merit, some institutions have a ‘spread it around’ policy) then everyone will be able to argue that the experience is important and you want be able to argue more specifically how it will help you grow as a scholar (what aspects you might want to emphasize will depend on the culture at your institution).

Just realized you said you don’t know what papers will be given. If there is any information try to use it, but otherwise you should still be able to talk about your own paper.

Edited March 6, 2019 by WildeThing

[victoriansimpkins]

2 hours ago, Indecisive Poet said:

Conference funding is not guaranteed at my MA program – I have to fill out an application and have it approved by the department. Part of this application is a short statement about how the conference will benefit my career and research development. I'm curious what you all write for this sort of thing/for conference bursary applications. Should I state the obvious about conferences generally being helpful experiences for graduate students? Should I go into detail about what sorts of extra activities the conference will be offering? The programs aren't available just yet for either of the conferences I'm planning to attend this summer so I can't write about any specific papers anyone is giving.

A side question: if I am awarded a grant, is that something I can list on my CV? As I mentioned, it's definitely an if scenario as it isn't at all guaranteed, but it would be coming directly from my university's English department.

I wouldn't say they are "generally...helpful experiences" -- they are required for advancement in your field. 

Put everything on your CV that is relevant. If you fill out an application for funding and are awarded it, it needs to go under an "honors and awards" section. I have 5 grants so far that I had to apply for (3 conference and 2 research grants) and they can only help since not everyone gets them automatically. 

The humanities need people willing to apply for grants that are not just NEH grants (since an average of 2% of people are awarded those). If we want money like the sciences get, we have to be willing to apply and fight for it like the sciences do. 

[mandelbulb]

i had to complete one of these for additional travel funds for a conference i wanted to attend. here are some things i said:

- talked about the conference and the conference’s specific mission.

- wrote about how this conference is the perfect venue for growing my research ideas. also mentioned that the mixture of attendees will offer new perspectives on my research. offered that it can help me stenthen my paper and help me pursue publication for the paper.

- talked about what other presentations happening at the conference (if you don’t know that yet, maybe just talk about the keynote speaker and check out past panels and presentations) that relate to my research and would help me further my thinking. also posed the possibility of networking.