Travel Awards
Travel funds support students who plan to actively participate in a conference, competition, immersive program, performance, workshop, or other type of meeting or congregation of the student's peers/professionals in their respective field.
*Each semester, URSA reserves the right to reassess travel restrictions and UA travel policies, before deciding on whether to fund travel awards.*- Must be a degree-seeking undergraduate student
Students of any year of study, from any UAF-affiliated campus, working toward an Occupational Endorsement, Certificate, Associate's Degree or Bachelor's Degree in any discipline are eligible to apply for URSA funding. Middle College students, graduated undergraduate students and graduate students are not eligible to apply.- UAF Campuses Include: Bristol Bay, Chukchi, CTC, Troth Yeddha’, Interior Alaska, Kuskokwim, Northwest
- Registration:
Students must be enrolled in at least 3 credits at any UAF-affiliated campus for the funded semester (Fall/Spring Awards). Summer Travel applicants must have be enrolled the Spring prior and Fall following the travel term. - GPA of 2.3 or higher
Students with a GPA lower than 2.3 are not eligible. - Must have a confirmed mentor for the proposed travel or event registration.
Faculty, post-doctoral researchers, graduate students, and staff may serve as URSA mentors. Mentors must confirm their participation via the URSA Mentor Confirmation form prior to the award deadline. - Students are eligible to receive one Project Award (or be funded under a Mentor Award) and one travel award (fall, winter or spring) per academic year (Fall to Summer semester). This policy allows for a greater number of students to receive awards with limited URSA funds.
Below are examples of previously funded opportunities:
- Poster and paper presentations at conferences
- Group or individual competition entries
- Musical and theatrical workshops requiring performances
URSA will NOT fund:
- Attendance to events without participation
- Study Away Opportunities/ UAF Course Travel/ Opportunities for Credit
- Skills workshops without a final product/ creative output
Don't see a similar event type as your opportunity listed above? Please contact the URSA Office to check the funding eligibility of your travel opportunity!
- Your Mentor must complete the URSA Mentor Confirmation form prior to the application deadline.
- Students must complete a Reflection Form by the end of each award period.
- Final products to be submitted with the reflection form include:
- 1-2 high resolution pictures and/or video from the travel event
IMPORTANT: Failure to submit a reflection or photos will make the student ineligible to future URSA funding.
Group Travel Award
Spring 2023
Mentors: David Henry & Chisato Murakami
Sam Dempster
Fall 2022
Mentor: Jessie Young-Robertson
Sam Dempster, Biological Sciences major, received an Individual Travel Award to attend
the American Geophysical Union's (AGU) December 2022 meeting. AGU is one of the largest
scientific conferences in the United States and welcomes more than 25,000 scientists
to attend! While in attendance, Sam presented a poster based on his Fall 2022 URSA
project, mentored by Dr. Jessica Young-Robertson, titled: Consequences of Shrub Expansion
in the Boreal Forest: Quantifying Alder’s Seasonal Ecophysiological Dynamics.
"I was able to meet and network with many different scientists from around the world...,
present my research to the same audience and get valuable feedback from many of them.
I was also able to attend many different short lectures which provided very valuable
information that will be useful to my job my future education."
UAF Aero Club
Spring 2023
Mentor: Michael Hatfield
UAF's Aero Club received a Spring 2023 Group Travel Award to compete at this year's
Design-Build-Fly Competition in Tucson, Arizona which is organized by the American
Institute of Aeronautics (AIAA)!
While at the competition, awardees met competitors from many schools, compared aircraft
designs, and learned about the challenges other teams had to design as problems arose.
"Being able to showcase our design and see what designs other teams came up with was
a very cool experience as young engineering students."
Ariana Lopez & Olivia Buzby,
Summer 2023
Mentor: Jaunelle Celaire
Ariana and Olivia both received a Summer Travel Award to attend the Interharmony International Music Festival in Acqui Terme, Italy. The Festival, two weeks long, allowed students to study and perform with an internationally renowned Artist Faculty of soloists and chamber musicians.
Native Alaskan Business Leaders (NABL) Club, Spring 2024 Award
Marcelo Ketzler-Lopez (Accounting), Shaina Atcherian (Applied Business), Elise Wood
(One Health), Aiyana Fragoso (Business Administration)
Spring 2024 Group Travel Award
Mentor: Jillian Bjornstad
This travel award allowed the Native Alaskan Business Leaders Club to attend the American Indigenous Business Leaders Conference, located in Las Vegas, Nevada, which is designed to give Indigenous students and professionals the opportunity to enhance and expand their educational experiences beyond what is taught through traditional academic methods. During the conference, students competed for prizes in business plans, community projects, and elevator pitches. The UAF NABL student organization won the university division of the AIBL business plan competition for their presentation titled, "Yukon Harmony Veterinary Clinic Business Proposal."
"The event was extraordinary and was a wonderful experience for all of the members especially for those that had never attended such a large event let alone one specific to encouraging and supporting Alaska Natives and Indigenous Americans."
Kevin Carroll, Art
Mentor: Jamie Smith
Pastel Workshop: Susan Kuznitsky's "DON'T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK"
(Mount Vernon, Washington)
David McCain, Art
Mentor: J. Jason Lazarus
Workshop & Portfolio Reviews: Society for Photographic Education 2025 Annual Conference
(Reno, Nevada)
UAF Native Games Club
Students (L-R): Colin McFarland (Business Administration), Leah Evans (Linguistics),
Parker Kenick (Information Technology), Naatanii Mayo (Art)
Mentor: Donald Crocker
2025 Traditional Games
The Traditional Games are held annually in Juneau, Alaska and includes games derived from hunting and survival skills necessary for the Indigenous people of Alaska and the North over time.
"The history of this sport reflects the cultures it comes from, with an emphasis on the traditional reasons for the games and their relationship to survival in the harsh northern environment. The dynamic between athletes has a large emphasis on sportsmanship, which also stems from Alaska Native cultures, which are more community focused than western culture.
"As for results, at Traditional Games this year, UAF Native Games Club received the all-around college team award for the third year in a row. As a team we received six gold medals, three silver medals, and four bronze medals, with all of our athletes placing in the top five at least once." - Parker Kenick
Individual students that have been accepted to present, compete, perform, or otherwise actively engage at an in-person meeting of peers may apply for funding.
- Awards will fund up to $2,000.
- Eligible Expenses include: registration, airfare, lodging, per diem, and/or ground
transportation costs
- Each application MUST include a completed URSA Travel Budget Form
- All travel arrangements are made between the student and their department's travel
coordinator. Please visit UAF' Travel page for more information on procedures.
Applications are accepted any time throughout the year, however, applications must be submitted at least 4 weeks prior to the event.
Groups of students accepted to present, compete, perform, or otherwise actively engage at an in-person meeting of peers may apply for funding.
- Awards will fund up to $4,000 per group.
- Eligible Expenses include: registration, airfare, lodging, per diem, and/or ground
transportation costs
- Each application MUST include a completed URSA Travel Budget Form
- All travel arrangements are made between the students and their department's travel
coordinator. Please visit UAF' Travel page for more information on procedures.
- Groups need only to submit one application. URSA will only consider one group for each conference or competition.
Applications are accepted any time throughout the year, however, applications must be submitted at least 4 weeks prior to the event.
If no account exists, complete the . Travelers will need to know their fund/org and travel approver. Travel coordinator can be listed as TCSO (uaf-travel@alaska.edu).
If there are travel delays/cancellations while in travel status, work with the airline to rebook. Airlines will often provide lodging, transportation and/or meal vouchers when there are cancellations/delays. Please check with an agent at the ticket counter to see how they can assist when you are getting rebooked.