Travel and Research Support

The Provost's Office supports the faculty's development as scholars and researchers by providing funds to support faculty research and faculty travel to professional meetings. All transactions using internal funding sources are expected to adhere to current College-wide expense and purchasing guidelines.

Faculty Research Support

Full-time and regular part-time members of the faculty may request up to a total of $2,000 (pro-rated for part-time faculty) for each academic year to cover expenses incurred in connection with a research project. These funds can be used to support the preparation of lengthy manuscripts or publications (except textbooks); the purchase of equipment and supplies (which then become the property of the college); stipends for research assistants; travel expenses for research; and duplication costs. A call for requests will be issued early in the fall and spring semesters from the Provost's Office.

External Grants Recognition and Acknowledgement Program

Beginning with the 2021-2022 academic year, the College will provide an infusion of research funding equivalent to 7.5% of the awarded indirect costs on all new external grants. The intent of this program is to reward and incentivize faculty research by providing a program similar to indirect cost recovery offered by other institutions.  For more detail about this program, read the Memorandum on External Grants Recognition and Acknowledgement Program[pdf].

Collaborative Research with Students

Funds are available through each division to support student and faculty collaborative research and independent student research during the summer.

• Social Sciences
• Humanities
• Natural Sciences and Engineering

Faculty Travel

The College encourages faculty members to take part in professional meetings, to keep in touch with fellow scholars, and to stay up to date with the most advanced thought in their individual fields. The College therefore reimburses full-time members of the faculty (Professors, Associate Professors, Assistant Professors, and Instructors) for a major part of the expenses incurred in attending meetings of learned or professional societies.

Receipts are required; expense reports for reimbursement may be generated in Chromeriver.  For the 2024-25 academic year, full-time faculty members have up to $2,300 to use for expenses related to travel or registration fees (including for virtual conferences).  See Section 19 of the Instructional Staff Handbook for details.  While international travel restrictions have eased, faculty are asked to complete the international travel registry. You may find the registry and other important information on the International Travel Policies website. It is encouraged that you review the full Business Travel and Expense Policy when making travel plans.

Instructional staff at the ranks of lab/language lecturer and lab/language instructor are also eligible to request up to $1,000 per year in College funds for travel in support of their teaching and professional development. Given the fundamental pedagogical responsibilities of instructional staff, requests should clearly compliment the subject area of their teaching and cannot supersede instructional duties. Requests for travel funds must be approved by the department chair prior to submission and can be requested by email to Imaani El-Burki (ielburk1@swarthmore.edu)

For additional information, see the Faculty Travel section of the Handbook for Instructional Staff [pdf].

Constance Hungerford Faculty Support Fund

A gift from Eugene Lang provides the Provost with a fund to support scholarship and/or curriculum development by tenure-track assistant professors and associate professors who have received tenure within the past six years.

As funds permit, grants of $500 to $3000 may be made to subsidize unusual expenses such as the subvention required by a press in order to publish a book or the cost of reproduction rights. A grant might supplement the regular travel allowance if one is giving a peer-reviewed paper. A grant might also support curriculum development and the cost of preparing and carrying out a special prototype faculty initiative to provide a learning experience for students in a particular course, discipline or student group; it could support organizing and carrying out a particular-interest faculty conference, or a particular discipline-relevant collaboration with another college or professional or community group. In exceptional cases, the award may provide for a course replacement (requiring up to $6000), but it does not fund a second semester of leave. It does not provide for the purchase of equipment normally provided by the College.

The Provost will review requests twice a year, at the beginning of each semester, normally November 1 and March 1. Proposals should include:

1. a description of what is needed and why, with a time frame for concluding the overall project and a specific budget;
2. one paragraph explaining how the proposal fits into larger career goals;
3. a statement from your department chair confirming the desirability of a grant; and
4. a curriculum vitae. On conclusion of the agreed-upon grant period, a written report will be required, together with a photocopy of any publication or paper delivered (with the conference program).

Supplemental Faculty Support Fund

Subject to availability of funds, supplemental faculty support funds are available to support faculty engagement in research, teaching, and professional development. These funds, intended to supplement existing projects where other College sources available to faculty are not sufficient for the identified need, are available to full-time, regular part-time, and emeritus faculty, with priority given to current faculty.  Generally, these funds are intended to support project costs and cannot be used to provide supplemental compensation to faculty members. More specifically, these funds can be used to offset the costs of open access fees; translation services for manuscripts; department conference sponsorship; instructional field trips, etc. To request supplemental faculty support, complete the Request for Supplemental Faculty Support Funds form. Requests will be reviewed on a rolling basis.

Due to the limited availability of funds, faculty requesting these funds should expect that only a portion of their request may be funded. Normally funds are not awarded in excess of $2000.