Acceptable for funding:
- Sensible improvements to graduate student common space
- Hosting guest speakers for areas of graduate student interest (should be of interest to more than a small subset of graduate students)
- Will fund intra-university conferences, generally not external conferences (but applications are still welcomed)
- Continuing department or faculty seminar series are allowed to apply, but preference will be given to new groups over repeat applications
- Ideally GSEF could help get new initiatives off the ground and the department/faculty could step in over time to make the seminar series permanent (to help pay for refreshments and/or coffee)
- Any project that will potentially impact graduate students on campus!
However, funding is not limited to these areas and all applications will be considered.
Not acceptable for GSEF funding:
- Incomplete applications
- Previously incurred expenses prior to being notified of winning award
- Projects related to a graduate student’s thesis work
- Projects that require a prohibitively large amount of funding
- Honorarium for guest speakers, and graduate student awards
- Alcohol
- Projects where the majority of benefit is not to UWaterloo graduate students on campus (any campus)
To apply for individual travel funding to attend a conference, see the GSPA/GSEF Graduate Studies Research Dissemination Award (GSRDA) instead. Additional financial support may be provided by the graduate student’s supervisor, graduate program, department, school or Faculty.