Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU) is a consortium of major academic institutions that grant PhD degrees. ORNL partners with ORAU to bring together university faculty and students to collaborate on major scientific initiatives in science and technology.
Travel Grants Program
The Travel Grants Program provides up to $800 to facilitate travel by a faculty member from an ORAU sponsoring or associate institution or branch campus. Visits can be to collaborate with researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the Y-12 National Security Complex, ORAU laboratories or work sites, or another ORAU institution.
To apply, visit the ORAU Members Universities page, find your school, and contact your member councilor, who can submit a proposal for travel funding to the ORAU University Partnerships Office through the Members Only section of this site.
Each ORAU Institution is limited to two requests in fiscal year 2011. This travel grant is available only to faculty at an ORAU member institution, and the proposal MUST be submitted by the ORAU councilor representing that institution. To identify your ORAU councilor, go to the ORAU site, select your institution, and the name of the ORAU councilor will appear on the next screen. The request must comply with federal travel expenditure guidelines.
Criteria for decisions to award travel grants include:
- Potential engagement of others, especially students.
- Probability of a long-term collaboration.
- New collaboration (proposed partners have no strong current ties).
- Well-defined outcome(s), such as a proposal to an identified opportunity, a white paper in anticipation of future funding, or a publication as a result of data collected during the visit.
This program is not intended to support travel to work with current collaborations or to interact with potential collaborators at locations other than the candidate's current laboratories, such as conferences. The grants may only be used to cover either travel expenses (train, plane, bus, or other) or accommodation expenses. Other travel-related expenses, such as food, will not be reimbursed. Applications must be submitted BEFORE travel takes place (no grants will be awarded after the fact).
Funding: Funding is provided exclusively from non-federal monies by ORAU. ORAU does not allow overhead charges or indirect costs on the award.
Reporting: Within 30 days of the trip, grant recipients will need to send a one-page summary of the outcome(s) of the trip, including any presentations made, visits with students, other benefits, and anticipated outcomes.
Proposal Submission: The proposal is submitted by the ORAU councilor using an online form that is available in the Members Only web site. The form requires the following information:
- Name of traveler
- Name of ORAU institution requesting grant
- Location and potential partner to be visited
- Purpose or objective of visit
- History of contact between the two parties
- Anticipated outcome(s) of the travel
An e-mail from the ORAU councilor endorsing the proposal is also required and should be transmitted to ann.farler@orau.org.
University Partnerships Office Grants
The ORAU University Partnerships Office is pleased to provide the information below regarding an opportunity only available to ORAU sponsoring and associate universities and branch campuses.
Up to $4,000 can be requested to support events that involve participants from more than one ORAU institution. Two calls for proposals will be issued each year. Typical events might include visits to an ORAU institution by a renowned speaker, conferences or workshops with a focused theme, or a technology transfer/business plan competition.
Proposals must be submitted by the councilor at any ORAU institution in good standing (i.e., membership fees and required reports for existing award programs are current). Each ORAU institution may submit one request in a fiscal year.
The upcoming deadline of March 30, 2011, will support events to take place through Sept. 30, 2011. A representative from ORAU must be invited to the event and will attend if possible. A report must be submitted within 30 days following the event documenting participation and outcome(s).
Criteria for decisions to award event sponsorship grants include:
- Potential engagement of others, especially students.
- Probability of a long-term collaboration.
- New or enhanced collaboration (proposed partners have no strong current ties).
- Well-defined outcome(s), such as a proposal to an identified opportunity, a white paper in anticipation of future funding, or a publication as a result of data collected during the visit.
Please contact your ORAU institution for more information.
