Applicant Eligibility

• - The student has registered to attend NAS2017. The registration would give access to all parts of the program to the student, including the main conference sessions, workshops, poster session and all meals and the banquet.
• - The student will submit a trip report describing the experience at the conference and the benefit of attending, which is required for travel reimbursement.
• - The funding will be used for student travel-related expenses such as airfare, hotel, etc. Actual expenses up to a certain limit will be reimbursed after the conference.
• - Students of the travel award committee members (including the general chairs, program chairs, and the student award chair) are not eligible.

Application Materials

An application for a travel award will consist of the student's vita, a letter from the student, and a letter from the student's supervisor.

The letter from the student should include:
• - A brief summary of research interests and accomplishments to date.
• - A description of areas reflected in the NAS2017 program that would impact the student's research.
• - Explanation on why attending NAS2017 is important to the student; and what experiences/outcomes expected from the conference attendance, and how the travel award assisted them in participation.
• - Applicants are encouraged to make their travel plans without depending on notification from the committee to ensure that lowest cost flights and accommodations have been secured.
• - Address any inquiries to cz.xu@siat.ac.cn.

In addition, the student's supervisor should send a signed letter of endorsement to the committee, including:

• - Confirmation that the student is a graduate student in good standing.
• - The suitability of the NAS2017 program material to the student's research area.
• - Ways this particular student would benefit from attendance at the conference.
• - The strengths and potential contributions of the student.
• - Availability of funds from other sources.

All materials for an application will be emailed to cz.xu@siat.ac.cn.

Important Dates

• - Student Travel Grant Application Deadline: July 17, 2017
• - Notification of Awards: July 23, 2017
• - All documents (including receipts and trip report) for reimbursement due August 17, 2017
Note that
• - The student will submit a trip report describing the experience at the conference, which is required for travel reimbursement.
• - The reimbursements may take up to two months.

Selection Process and Criteria

After distribution to the rest of the committee, each member will rank the applicants. The committee will make final selections via email discussions and a conference call. The student travel award chair will summarize all applicants' info and circulate to the rest of the selection committee. Each member will rank the applicants, and the committee members collectively make the final decisions based on the selection criteria.

The following explicit criteria will be used in the selection process:

• - Priority will be given to students who ordinarily could not attend, e.g., students without accepted papers in the main conference or workshops, or students with accepted papers but without support from their supervisor through other grants. In the former, NAS2017 will provide educational opportunity such as a poster session.
• - The selection committee will evaluate the merits of accepted papers or the educational activities when selecting the travel grant recipients.
• - Diversity shall be considered for attendees from the main technical conference, workshops, and posters.