Completed Application Form. (Click here to download)

​The student's research work and presentation must be supervised by a sponsor on the Downstate faculty or a comparable biomedical institution.

The work must be accepted for a poster or platform presentation at the meeting and abstracted in the journal or other proceedings of the sponsoring organization.

The reimbursement of up to $800 may go toward economical transportation, hotel accommodations for one night, food on the day of your presentation, and conference registration fees, but not toward the cost of preparing the poster. Students are eligible for one (1) Student Travel Grant (STG) per academic year. The academic year eligibility runs from August (Fall Semester) through June (Spring Semester.) If you receive a STG between August-December, you are not eligible again until the next academic year that starts the following August. If you receive a  STG between January-June, you are not eligible again until the next academic year starting in January.

Students should address a cover letter to Dr. Richard Sadovsky and email it to alumni@downstate.edu. The cover letter must include the student's name, name of the meeting, date, location, and name of the paper/abstract. The application must be submitted one month prior to attending the conference or within five business days of acceptance. Students receive their reimbursement after the conference.

Funds are limited and awarded competitively. Because the grant is meant to help students present their own original research, it is generally allocated to only one student per presentation.

The request application should include:

• Cover letter noting statement of purpose for attending the meeting.

• Details of the meeting and sponsorship.

• Letter of support from a SUNY Downstate faculty member who actually mentored the project, or who is in an appropriate specialty to comment on the validity and potential impact of the research. A letter of support from a SUNY Downstate faculty member is essential even if the research was done outside of Downstate.

• Copy of abstract.

• Copy of the program page with the student's presentation highlighted.

• Itemized budget, including price quotes and copies of expenses.

• List of other support the student is seeking or has secured.

• Copy of the student's conference acceptance letter with the date of acceptance. 

• Completed page one (1) of a W9 form (Download Here) and Travel Waiver Form (Download Here). 

The presentation must include an acknowledgment of the support of the Alumni Association – SUNY Downstate College of Medicine. We would love to be able to share and feature your project via social media. Please share your social media handles with us, if you would like to be tagged.​

• Please follow us on Twitter: @DownstateAlumni                                                                                                                              Facebook: Alumni Association-College of Medicine SUNY Downstate                                                        Instagram: @sunydownstatealumni 

• One boomerang in front of the research poster board or with the student travel grant tag (this can be picked up at the office).

• A 30-second to 1-minute video of you discussing the research or if it's possible for someone to film you during your presentation.

• Lastly, a quote (testimonial) on what being approved for the student travel grant meant to you and a short blurb about your research and the name of the conference where you presented the research. 

If possible, please have someone take two clear pictures of yourself (preferably without anyone in the background), one where you are centered in front of the research and one where you are off to the side gesturing towards the research.

Students who receive Alumni Association funding for their research presentations are encouraged to present their work by poster at the annual SUNY Downstate Research Day. The presentations should note the funded presentation date and meeting, and acknowledgment of alumni support.