The MIT Graduate Student Council's Athletic & Performance-Activities Grant has been successfully used in the past to cover travel, registration, and lodging costs for a number of challenge dancing events, including the Tech Squares Challenge Weekend. The grant is designed to support graduate students who pursue a non-research/non-academic activity, such as competitions, concerts, and other events at competitive levels. The grant covers fees and expenses such as registration, accommodation, travel (air, car rental, gas, tolls, parking, public transportation), equipment shipment if needed, etc.
There are four funding cycles that apply to different quarters of the year, and applicants have received funding of $500 or more for individual events, depending on the amount of funding requested by competing applicants during a grant cycle. A potential drawback of this source of funding is that, for dances that occur early in a funding cycle, the grant committee does not reliably provide information on whether funding will be granted in time for the student to register and plan their travel. Additionally, at times, Graduate Student Council representatives have claimed that a student can obtain funding through the grant only once per year, although this criterion has not been posted on the website and has been selectively enforced.
Grant applications are reviewed on the basis of the following criteria:
- The extent to which the competition/concert/event travel is currently unfunded or unsupported by the applicant’s group, club, department, the larger Institute or the event organizers.
- The degree to which the activity will enhance the experience of the MIT graduate student and/or expand his/her skills and exposure in the activity pursued.
For the most recent information about this grant and for a funding application, go to http://gsc.mit.edu.ezproxy.canberra.edu.au/funding/athletic-performance-grant.
View an example of a previous successful funding application