Guidelines for Graduate Students

Source: https://www.aucegypt.edu/academics/graduate-studies/support-grants/guidelines Parent: https://www.aucegypt.edu/academics/study-abroad

Conference, Research and Study Abroad Grants 2025 - 2026

Support Grants Guidelines

Application Deadlines

If you have not yet received the required supporting documents (such as a letter of acceptance for a conference presentation or a letter of acceptance from the host institution for the study-abroad/exchange program), you can still apply, and approval of the proposal will be granted pending receipt of the missing documents.

Ensure that the supporting documents (support letter from your graduate program director or thesis supervisor at AUC, the acceptance letter to the conference or from a host institution for a study-abroad/exchange program, etc.) are issued in your name.

Students are requested to use the online graduate support grants system for the application. This system is typically accessible 10 days before the deadline for each cycle. Students can access the system at this link.

In the case of approved support, payment of the support will typically take place through bank transfer to your bank account in Egypt. Allow up to 15 working days from the date of signing your support grant award letter and providing your full and accurate bank account details for the bank transfer to be completed. Under certain circumstances, the awarded support is provided by cheque. In such cases, allow up to 15 working days for the cheque to be ready.

Note that payment of the awarded support is conducted by the Office of Students Accounts.

For more information, contact the Office of the Dean of Graduate Studies, 2615-3993, email graduategrants@aucegypt.edu

Types of Grants

Conference Grant

A maximum of $2,500 for assisting with expenses for delivering a paper at a recognized conference about research work conducted while a graduate student at AUC.

Research Grant

A maximum of $3,850 for assisting with expenses for research conducted for an AUC master’s thesis. \ A maximum of $5,500 for assisting with expenses for research conducted for an AUC PhD thesis.

The support can cover:

• Supplies and services
• Data to be collected or purchased from local/international sources
• Publishing costs of reprints, page charges and preparation of manuscripts for publishing
• Journal publication costs
• Travel expenses where applicable, possibly including airfare, accommodation, visa fee, and health insurance
• Grants could be used for the purchase of minor equipment and/or software licenses, but only with the approval of the program director/department chair. Such equipment and/or licenses become the property of the program/department at the end of the grant period

The support cannot cover:

• The purchase of personal computers.
• Hospitality costs.
• Costs of incentives for participants in a research project or activity.
• Costs of labor; research and teaching assistants.
• Costs of purchasing of books.
• Costs of location rental fees.

Exchange/Study Abroad Grant

A maximum of $5,500 for assisting with airfare, visa fee, health insurance, accommodation and living expenses abroad. The applicant must be accepted as a non-degree student or as visiting scholar for up to one semester in an institution with transferable credits to AUC. This grant is to possibly support an exchange/study abroad opportunity that would contribute to the completion of the applicant’s graduate degree requirements at AUC. 

For Yousef Jameel GAPP Public Leadership Fellows, study abroad support is provided through the fellowship program. For more information, click here.

Additional Information

Budget Preparation

Grant applicants are committed to the budget they include in their application.

1. Travel: If support for air travel is requested, give the flight route relevant to your project. Travel fare is calculated as Cairo-destination-Cairo. Your travel ticket will have to be issued by the AUC Travel Office.
2. Per diem: Up to $250 per day towards expenses for travel abroad (this is not applicable for study-abroad/exchange grants). Give the total amount needed for per diem, including accommodation, in USD.
3. Estimated living expenses including accommodation for study-abroad/exchange grants: Give the number of nights/weeks/months and the cost per night/week/month, including accommodation, in USD.
4. Conference registration fees: Basic conference registration fees (student rate).
5. Visa costs: Cost of obtaining an entry visa.
6. A cost of health insurance for study abroad/exchange grants: As per the requirements of the host institution.
7. Data processing and materials: Applicants should explore the use of departmental and computer center personnel and facilities for data processing and materials. However, if funds are requested, a detailed breakdown of the cost, including justifications, are required.

Eligibility

All enrolled graduate students at AUC are eligible to apply for grants as per the following conditions:

• The minimum GPA required for applying for a conference grant is 3.0.
• The minimum GPA required for applying for a research grant is 3.0.
• The minimum GPA required for applying for a study-abroad grant is 3.5.
• Students must have completed a minimum of 9 credits at the time of applying to a grant. For PhD students, these 9 credits must have been completed after their start of the PhD program.
• A student having completed all credit requirements for his/her degree is not eligible for a research grant or a study abroad grant.
• For the application to a research grant, or a study-abroad grant which involves thesis research conducted abroad, the formal approval of the thesis research proposal by the graduate program of study must have already taken place.
• Students can obtain a conference grant up to one calendar year from their graduation. In case of approved support, students must travel within the period of this one year.
• Students must have submitted reports on previous support grants obtained, and the evaluation of the reports must be completed (refer to the “Reporting Guidelines” section below).

For MA/MSc Students:

• Only up to one conference grant is allowed per academic year (July to June), with a maximum of two conference grants per study period inclusive of the period of one calendar year after graduation.
• Only up to one research grant per study period is allowed.
• Only up to one study-abroad grant per study period is allowed.
• In case of sequential awarding of a research grant and an exchange/study-abroad grant, the total accumulated awarded amount for the two grants cannot exceed $5,500.

For PhD Students:

• Up to three grants are allowed per study period, two of which must be conference grants. The third grant can be a conference grant, a research grant, a study-abroad grant, or a combination of research and study-abroad grant.
• Only up to one conference grant is allowed per academic year (July to June).
• In the case of combined research and study-abroad grant, the maximum support is $5,500.

Important Notes

• Non-enrolled students are not eligible to apply for support grants.
• Retroactive support and/or reimbursement of expenses is not possible.
• A master’s student cannot hold a research grant and a study-abroad grant concurrently.
• The deferral of conference, research or study-abroad grant is not possible.
• An awarded conference grant is specific to the awardee, the conference to be attended, the paper to be presented. Reassigning conference grants is not possible. Any change in the awardee, the conference or the paper to be presented nulls the awarded grant.
• Conference grants to more than one student delivering the same paper are not possible.
• No support would be provided for presenting the same paper at different conferences.
• Conference, and study abroad/exchange support grants cannot have extensions (no-cost or otherwise).
• Awarded research grant cannot be maintained by the awardee beyond the date of his/her final thesis submission, and no expenditure of awarded support is possible beyond this date.
• For research grant awards, if a student is unable to complete their research by the date specified in their award letter, they must send an email requesting a no-cost extension for the research grant award to the Office of the Dean of Graduate Studies. This request must include a progress report outlining the work completed, the work remaining, and a justification for the extension.
• For study abroad/exchange grants: The credit hours for comprehensive exams and/or thesis guidance must be taken at AUC. These cannot be taken elsewhere as these credits are not transferrable, as per the university catalog.
• For research grants and study abroad grants entailing conducting research at a host institution overseas, the host institution invitation/acceptance letter is to specify the research topic to be conducted there.
• For research grants and study abroad grants entailing conducting research at a host institution overseas, a change of the host institution, or any change in the research project, nullifies the awarded grant.
• Training and/or capacity building opportunities are not supported by Graduate Student Support Grants.
• The Office of the Dean of Graduate Studies can provide support letters to students for visa purposes if needed. However, all visa issuance queries are between the student and the embassy of relevance.
• If the grant award letter includes an airfare allowance, the student must purchase his/her air ticket through the AUC Travel Office only. In this case, the awarded grant cannot cover the air ticket additional costs.
• If the grant award letter does not include support for an airfare, the awarded funds cannot be used towards the cost of the air ticket.
• In case the awarded grant will not be used by the student, he/she must inform the Office of the Dean of Graduate Studies to take the necessary actions.
• A student awarded a conference grant or a study abroad/exchange grant, who is not able to attend the conference or to travel abroad for whatever reason, must reimburse the totality of the awarded support, with the exception of visa application fees.
• Any unused funds must be returned to the Office of the Dean of Graduate Studies.
• Graduate Student Support Grants cannot be deferred.

Reporting Guidelines

Graduate students who receive a support grant are required to submit an online comprehensive technical and financial report to the program director/department chair for evaluation, within eight weeks from the end of the activity, as specified in the award letter. The program director/department chair will evaluate the grant report which will then be forwarded to the relevant school dean and the Dean of Graduate Studies for evaluation.\

Students who fail to submit the report within eight weeks from the end of the activity or submit a report that is not approved by the different levels will have holds placed on their academic records, jeopardizing the award of any further support. In such cases, the recipient of the grant is requested to reimburse the totality of the awarded support.

Grant reports must be submitted online through the AUC Student Support Grant System. Recipients of a support grant are requested to upload all the necessary records and documentation as per the section below.

The online report must include justifications and evidence of expenditure. The following documents are required and must be uploaded onto the online system:

For Conference Grant Reports:

1. A copy of the grant award letter
2. A copy of the air ticket and boarding pass stubs
3. A copy of the accommodation booking and payment receipt issued in the name of the award holder. Providing booking confirmation only will not be accepted
4. A copy of the visa, or visa receipt issued in the name of the award holder
5. A copy of the receipt of payment of conference registration issued in the name of the award holder

For Research Grant Reports:

1. A copy of the grant award letter.
2. A copy of invoices/receipts used for purchasing items or services issued in the name of the award holder. Invoices/Receipts must specify the items or services obtained and must be dated. Undated invoices/receipts will not be accepted.

3. For any travel support, the following must also be included in your Research Grant Report:

4. A copy of the air ticket and boarding pass stubs.

5. A copy of the accommodation booking and payment receipt issued in the name of the award holder. Providing booking confirmation only will notbe accepted.
6. A copy of the visa, or visa receipt issued in the name of the award holder (if applicable).
7. A copy of the health insurance issued in the name of the award holder (if applicable).

For Study Abroad/Exchange Grant Reports:

1. A copy of the grant award letter.
2. A copy of the air ticket and boarding pass stubs.
3. A copy of the accommodation booking and payment receipt issued in the name of the award holder. Providing booking confirmation only will not be accepted.
4. A copy of the visa, or visa receipt issued in the name of the award holder (if applicable).
5. A copy of the health insurance issued in the name of the award holder (if applicable).

For grant reports to be accepted the above documents must be submitted.

Any unused funds must be returned to the Office of the Dean of Graduate Studies.