Travel and Conference Grants

All DPhil students at the Maths Institute have access to a £2000 travel allowance to be used over the course of their DPhil up until submission of their thesis (travel must happen before submission of thesis). This page sets out the process for claiming against this allowance. The exceptions are CDT students and other students where specific travel funding is included in their DPhil funding. For these students the majority of information on this page is correct but the procedure for authorising spending and the amounts available will be different. CDT students should contact their CDT administrator for details on travel allowances; if you are not sure what position you are in, please contact @email for details. SABS students spend three years at the Maths Institute so receive an allowance of £1500 rather than £2000.

What is available:

All DPhil students have access to a £2000 travel allowance to be used over the course of their DPhil up until submission of their thesis. As well as the £2000 student travel allowance, students also have access to an additional £250 for skills training. If your travel plan includes some sort of training or skills development  (e.g.  you will be presenting) then you could be eligible to charge all or part of the trip to your skill straining fund.

Please note you must complete the travel application and be in receipt of authorisation before any commitment to expenditure is made. This allows us to be sure your proposed trip is eligible for funding and that you have enough left of your allowance.

The process:

• Fill in a travel application
  • Fill in the form here DPhil travel fund application.pdf and get it signed by your supervisor.
  • Then send to @email
• Application is authorised
  • You will receive an email reply authorising you to spend up to a certain amount
  • This email will also give the financial coding you will require when using the e-expenses system to claim back the money you spend.
• Spend up to the amount you were awarded
  • You will likely spend money in advance of the trip (for travel etc) and whilst on the trip (food etc).
  • All expenditure should be eligible for reimbursement under university regulations. These are detailed here and include common sense rules such as using economy class travel. https://finance.admin.ox.ac.uk/travel-expenses-claimants-guide
  • Your travel arrangements should adhere to the university's new travel policy (implemented from 1st August 2022) which has new regulations including restrictions on flight destinations. Travel Policy | Staff Gateway (ox.ac.uk)  
  • If you choose to extend your trip for non-business purposes you can only claim up to the amount you would have claimed if you had not extended the  trip. Please contact @email if you are unsure.
• Claim back costs via the university’s e-expenses system
  • Once you have spent money you will need to claim the money back via the university’s e-expenses system. You will need to keep all original receipts for use in this process.
  • You can make multiple claims for each trip (e.g one before you travel for your pre-booked travel costs and the another for the money you spend whilst on your trip)
  • Details on how e-expenses works is here: https://finance.admin.ox.ac.uk/claimants-expenses-guidance . But the basic idea is that you will provide the system with your bank details and then upload receipts and details of your claim.
  • As part of your claim you will need to provide some financial coding so that the money provided to you is taken from the correct account in the Maths Institute. This code is provided to you when your travel application is authorised (see process set out earlier)
• Travel whilst following university travel regulations. When you travel you should bear in mind the following:
  • Use the university’s travel insurance (does not cover any personal (non-business) travel whilst on your trip). See details here https://finance.admin.ox.ac.uk/travel-insurance
  • If driving please make sure your car insurance covers “business” travel

If you have any questions please contact @email