Jose Varela Travel Grant
Conference Travel
The José Varela Memorial Travel Grant was established through the generous donations of MLCS Faculty and external benefactors. This grant is awarded to enhance the quality and dissemination of graduate research in MLCS; all areas of research in the department are supported. The grant is designed to encourage students to become active in their respective fields of research and expose their work at national and international venues. The grant is specifically designed to facilitate the presentation of papers at scholarly conferences.
Eligibility
All full-time or part-time graduate students in MLCS are eligible. Previous holders of this grant are given lower priority, but are encouraged to reapply. The conference must occur between April 1, 2025 and March 31, 2026.
The Graduate Committee will distribute any available funding at its discretion, based on the following criteria:
- quality of the abstract
- academic standing/progress in program
- relevance of the abstract/venue to the student's program
Applications
The application deadline is February 2, 2026. Please complete the application using the google form which requires you to upload a pdf of (1) your up-to-date CV; (2) proof of acceptance of paper (this can be an email from the conference organizer, or other document that confirms your presentation); and (3) a letter of support from your supervisor. Google forms and documents submitted after the deadline will not be accepted.
Research Travel
The Department of Modern Languages and Cultural Studies is offering this Varela award to support MA or PhD field research for thesis or capstone project that requires travel to visit archives, museums, institutions, gather data, or other research.
Eligibility
All full-time or part-time graduate students in MLCS are eligible. Previous holders of this grant are given lower priority, but are encouraged to reapply. The research travel must occur between April 1, 2025 and March 31, 2026.
Applications
The application deadline is February 2, 2026. Please complete the application using the google form which requires you to upload a pdf of (1) your up-to-date CV; (2) a maximum two-page proposal that includes a description of the thesis or capstone project, a description of the research undertaken, and an explanation of how the research is essential to the completion of the thesis project; and (3) a letter of support from your supervisor. Google forms and documents submitted after the deadline will not be accepted.
The MLCS Graduate Committee will distribute any available funding at its discretion after adjudicating the applications based on the following criteria: quality of proposal, the relevance of the research to the thesis or capstone project, and academic standing/progress in program.
Award recipients will be required to submit a report to the department summarizing their travel experience and its impact on their thesis or capstone research.