UC Berkeley graduate students are invited to apply for competitive grants of up to $1000 for research travel to South Asia (a total of two will be awarded), and up to $500 for conference travel (a total of two will be awarded) made available through a gift from the Maharaj Kaul Memorial Fund to the Institute for South Asia Studies.

The application process will begin on February 1, 2024 with the deadline for submission of application materials for travel to take place during the summer of 2024 (i.e., May through August 2024) or the 2024-25 academic year (i.e. August 2024 through May 2025), is April 1, 2024 by 5 pm

Join our mailing list to receive notification of when the application opens.

Please submit your application by using the application portals listed below. 

Before starting your application, please make sure to have the following documents ready.

APPLICATION PORTAL FOR RESEARCH TRAVEL

APPLICATION PORTAL FOR CONFERENCE TRAVEL

In your application for RESEARCH TRAVEL, please include the following:

  1. A cover letter stating the need for travel (750 words or less)
  2. A 2-page project proposal (double-spaced) (PDF format)
  3. A budget (PDF format)
  4. A CV (PDF format)
  5. One letter of support from your advisor (PDF, sent by the recommenders directly)
  6. Please Note: Two awards of upto $1000 will be given for Research Travel to South Asia

CONFERENCE TRAVEL is only available for presenting your own research. In your application for conference travel, please include:

  1. A cover letter with information of the conference (500 words or less)
  2. If available, a print out or copy of the conference schedule showing your presentation listing (PDF format)
  3. An abstract of your presentation (PDF format)
  4. A CV (PDF format)
  5. Please Note: Applicants may apply before their panels/papers are accepted. Disbursement of the money will be conditional on acceptance of paper by a panel/conference. Awardees will be reimbursed up to $500 of their travel expenses upon presentation of copies of air-tickets/panel registration forms.

Please submit applications through the application portals provided above. Emailed applications will not be accepted.
For questions, please email: Puneeta Kala at pkala@berkeley.edu