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Present Your Research (Travel)

On-Campus Presentation Opportunities

The RC Research and Creative Works Showcase is usually held on Family Weekend (late September/early October) in the Fall Semester and during Alumni Weekend (April) in the Spring Semester.  Students present their scholarship through poster and oral presentations.  The link for registration is sent via email to the RC community.

Off-Campus Presentation Opportunities

Dean's Travel Fund

The Dean’s Travel Fund budget is now spent for Spring 2024. The new budget cycle begins July 1, 2024. While proposals may still be considered, awards are not guaranteed.  Students who had the Dean's Travel Fund money as part of an Honors Distinction Project should complete this form and add "Honors Distinction:" before the name of their project on the "Project Title" part of the form and check the appropriate button further down.

We provide financial support for students to present their research at regional, national, and international conferences. Students are eligible to apply for up to $500 from the Dean's Travel Fund to offset their travel costs. To apply, have a single person in your group (either a student or the faculty mentor) submit the Dean's Travel Fund.  You'll need information about each student (major, student ID, presentation title) and a budget.

Undergraduate Research Conferences

Many students go to discipline-specific conferences.  Check with your undergraduate research mentor for conferences you can attend in your discipline.

General undergrad research conferences:

National Conference on Undergraduate Research, NCUR (deadline usually in December, conference usually in April)

Mid-Atlantic Regional Conference of Undergraduate Scholarship at Randolph (deadline usually in September, conference usually in October)

Network for Undergraduate Research in Virginia, NURVa, hosts an Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity Conference open to all disciplines (deadline usually early November, conference usually in January).  Contact the Director of Undergraduate Research for information on this year's conference.

Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students, ABRCMS, welcomes students in the Sciences, Psychology, Sociology, and Public Health.  They encourage underrepresented minority students, first generation college students, military veterans, and persons with disabilities (deadline usually end of summer, conference usually in November).

The National Undergraduate Humanities Research Symposium is at Johns Hopkins (deadline usually in January, conference usually in April).

NCRC at Harvard (deadline usually in December, conference usually in January)

URC at Butler (deadline usually in February, conference usually in April)

MadRush at JMU (Humanities and Social Sciences, deadline usually in February, conference usually in March)

Mid-Atlantic Undergraduate Research Conference at Virginia Tech (Sciences, deadline usually in January, conference usually in March).  Contact the Director of Undergraduate Research for information on this year's conference.

Steps to Present Your Research at an Off-Campus Conference

Before submitting an abstract to a conference

1.    Identify a conference and check deadlines; discuss attending with your faculty mentor

After submitting an abstract to a conference but before you are accepted

2.    Submit the Dean's Travel Fund application form.  The form should be submitted at least 4 weeks prior to the conference.

3.    Find additional funding from other sources (e.g., department chair, concentration coordinator, faculty mentor, mom and dad)

4.    Receive email approval from the Director of Undergraduate Research.  You can access your money through any combination of these methods:  a) Spend the money yourself, save receipts, get reimbursed.  b) Faculty mentor spends the money, saves receipts, gets reimbursed.  c) Use the RC Research credit cards for expenses before the trip such as conference registration, flights, or hotel.  d) Use the departmental credit card of your faculty mentor's department and we reimburse that department.

After being accepted to the conference but before going

6.    Register for the conference (print receipt)

7.    Reserve a room (print confirmation)

8.    Make travel plans (if flying, book flight and print receipt)

During your trip

9.    Keep all itemized receipts.

Note: An itemized receipt includes everything you purchased. For example, at a restaurant, the itemized receipt includes all of the food and drinks you purchased. Keep any credit card signature slips and write down tips that you paid.

10.  Be sure to take pictures during the conference, including one of you presenting, and post them to social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) with the hashtag #RCResearch

11.  Ask for a printout of your hotel bill upon checkout.

After you return

14. For any expenses you paid for directly, complete the top half of the "Travel - Expense Report" form (everything above and including Total Expenses) and complete the "Requested by" line in that form.

15. Return the expense report and all receipts to the Director of Undergraduate Research

16. Respond to interview requests from the RC Research blogger who will write a blog post about your trip for rcresearch.org. You will provide a picture to the blogger.

The Fine Print: ·         

  • $500 per student per year is the maximum funding available from the Director of Undergraduate Research for students presenting at conferences.  We support up to $75 for a student attending a conference but not presenting. Search for additional funding from other sources to cover the rest of the cost of your trip.
  • If you do not have a credit card or do not want to use yours, your faculty advisor can pay and be reimbursed for your expenditures.
  • The Office of Undergraduate Research does have a Roanoke College credit card that can be used for airfare or conference registration. However, you may not spend above the approved amount.
  • Unfortunately, we cannot give you a travel advance.
  • Please direct all questions about this procedure to research@roanoke.edu.