FAS Conference Grants (maximum 7 days) support individual faculty members travelling to present research
results (papers or other scholarly work) at international conferences and symposia.
Activities that are not covered by FAS Conference Grants:
- Conference attendance without a research presentation
- Direct invitations by departments, universities, and institutions for lectures and talks
- Participation in a roundtable discussion
- Participation as a panel discussant
- Book tours
General eligibility terms:
- Each faculty member is eligible for only one FAS Conference Grant per fiscal year.
- Fiscal years extend from July 1 to June 30 of the following year.
- Each FAS Conference Grant may cover only one conference.
Eligible faculty members:
- Full-time faculty members of professorial rank
- Visiting faculty members of professorial rank with contracts of two years or more
- Faculty members who are on Leave without Pay during the conference period are not eligible for funding
Ceilings for FAS Conference Grants (including the flight ticket, registration fee, per diem allowance, and transportation from/to the airport in the destination city):
- $2500 for MENA and Europe
- $3000 for elsewhere
Joint funding:
If any conference expenses are covered by the conference organizers or through another grant, duplicate funding cannot be provided through an FAS Conference Grant. It is the responsibility of the faculty member to inform the Dean about funding provided from other sources.
If a faculty member chooses to cover conference travel expenses from two AUB funds, this may be possible pending the approval of the Dean and other relevant administration. If
funding is approved from two sources, receipts for all expenses must be provided by the faculty member.
Expenses covered by an FAS Conference Grant:
1. Flight ticket: One roundtrip economy airline ticket Beirut-conference destination city-Beirut (faculty members may indicate their preferred airline; the AUB Travel Office will provide the most reasonable ticket relative to flight timing and cost).
2. Conference registration fee: This covers the registration fee to present at the conference, including abstract submission fees.
- It excludes professional organization or society membership fees, paper publication and materials fees, and elective conference activities fees.
- When the registration fee covers expenses other than the conference presentation fee, such as lodging,
3. Per diem allowance (for lodging, meals, and incidentals): The total per diem allowance equals the maximum daily allowance rate (per the AUB Comptroller’s Office rates) multiplied by the actual conference days. For conferences held outside Europe and the MENA, an additional day is granted.
- Example of the calculation of the per diem allowance for MENA and Europe: for a conference held on October 10—13, 2022, if faculty members stay for the full duration of the conference, coverage may be granted for five nights for lodging and four days for meals and incidentals.
- Example of the calculation of the per diem allowance for a conference held outside MENA and Europe: for a conference held on October 10—13, 2022, if faculty members stay for the full duration of the conference, coverage may be granted for five nights for lodging and five days for meals and incidentals.
4. Transportation from/to the airport in the destination country: The reasonable cost of roundtrip ground transportation from/to the airport only in the destination city is covered (airport shuttle service, local train, taxi, etc.). Receipts must be provided for coverage.
Processing of an FAS Conference Grant:
- Submit an FAS Conference Grant Request Form with the conference acceptance letter and Leave Request and Approval Form signed by the department chair. The grant request will be channeled to the department chair for review, following which the faculty member’s request and the chair’s evaluation will be forwarded to the Dean’s Office.
- The Dean will review and approve a grant and its terms.
- The faculty member will receive the terms of approval of a grant by email from the Dean’s Office. Administrative staff in the respective departments will be copied on this email to assist with the processing of online requests related to the grant on the AUB Oracle E-Business Suite.
- Faculty members must follow up as soon as possible with departmental administrative staff to inform whether they would like the flight ticket to be purchased through the AUB Travel Office or whether they will purchase the ticket (in the latter case, a ticket quotation must be requested from the Travel Office for reimbursement purposes). Faculty members may indicate their preferred airline; the Travel Office will provide the most reasonable ticket relative to timing and cost. An advance request for the registration fee and for the per diem allowance can be submitted from the department a month and a half prior to the trip (the registration fee amount, the flight ticket and cost are needed to determine the exact per diem allowance and to ensure that the grant is within the ceiling).
- Upon return, the faculty member is requested to submit all original boarding passes for all the flights, the registration fee payment receipt (if it was not provided prior to the trip or if there is any change), the flight ticket receipt and ticket itinerary if the ticket was self-purchased, and, if eligible (within the grant ceiling), transportation receipts from/to the airport in the destination city.