Updated 15 July 2021
At the moment it is not possible yet to apply for a travel grant for the SHOT 2021 annual meeting. The application round for SHOT travel grants will open late July 2021.
To support travel to the annual SHOT meeting, participants can apply for travel grants, as follows.
Eligibility for SHOT-NSF money is only for people who are participating in the meeting in some way (i.e., as a presenter, chair, Society governance, etc.) _and_ who fit one of the following three categories:
If you meet these criteria, please apply through the SHOT-NSF grant link above. These grants are administered by our colleagues at the History of Science, though SHOT itself reviews the applications and determines the awards.
SHOT-NSF travel grants only cover the cost of transportation to and from the conference and the cost of meeting registration. Travel grants do not cover the costs of transportation during the meeting, food, or lodging. Travel grants will be disbursed after the meeting in the form of reimbursements. Grant recipients will be responsible for filling out reimbursement forms and providing receipts for all claimed expenses – further details will come in award letters. Maximum awards: $750 for domestic travel and $1000 for international travel
Please note that recipients of SHOT-NSF travel grants will need to follow certain regulations; most important, only tickets on US-flag airlines are eligible for reimbursement, so for this grant, you MUST arrange travel on a US-flag airline! Further details will come in the award letters. Please note that HSS and 4S and other societies run related NSF travel-grant programs, and that no person may receive more than one NSF-funded conference-travel grant per calendar year.
SHOT’s own grant program is open to those who are not eligible for SHOT-NSF grants, with descending priority as follows:
Applicants are only eligible for a SHOT travel grant when they participate in the annual meeting program in some capacity. In descending priority, the committee will consider whether an applicant is:
If you meet these criteria, please apply through the SHOT Travel Fund link above.
SHOT Travel-Fund Grants may be used only for travel expenses and basic conference registration. Grant funds may not be used for tours, the awards banquet, lodging, or meals. SHOT grants are not meant to cover the full cost of attending meetings; they are intended as encouragement, not a complete subsidy. Reimbursement normally will be made upon submission of travel receipts to the SHOT secretary after the meeting; in exceptional circumstances, reimbursement may be considered in advance of the meeting.
Grants may range up to $750 for travel on the same continent (for example, to Milan from within elsewhere in Europe) and up to $1,000 for travel from a different continent. Under special circumstances, which should be explained in the application, the committee may make a larger grant for international travel. Amounts depend in part on the number of applications, and the committee may make partial awards.
The SHOT travel fund was initiated by Hugh Aitken in 1988 and has been supported by individual SHOT members, royalties from two anthologies of articles from Technology and Culture, and generous contributions from the Dibner Fund. Additional funds come from the National Science Foundation.
WITH Conference Grants
The Society for the History of Technology (SHOT) Special Interest Group (SIG) for Women in Technological History (WITH) announced its conference grant for 2019. Designed to defray some costs associated with attending the SHOT Annual Meeting (such as lodging, meals, and other incidental expenses), the grant was open to individuals giving a paper at the 2019 conference in Milan.
The reviewing committee prioritizes women scholars and feminist scholarship that addresses the presence, actions, activism, and analysis of women and gender in the History of Technology. Scholars who are new to SHOT and graduate students are particularly encouraged to apply.
Awardees typically receive a check for $250 with the possibility of additional funds depending on stated need and WITH’s resources. Winners are standard recognized at the WITH luncheon meeting, where they will receive a check for the amount of the grant. The grant includes the cost of the luncheon.
To apply, please send 1) a cover letter that incorporates a brief abstract of your proposed paper, a brief budget of anticipated expenses associated with your trip to Milan, and a list of any other grants or funding that may offset these expenses, 2) evidence that your paper has been accepted by the SHOT program committee, and 3) a one page curriculum vitae. At the moment it is not possible to apply for a WITH Conference grant. The next application round will be announced Spring 2021.
Scholars with higher travel expenses may be able to piece together funds from the WITH Conference Grant with a SHOT Travel Grant or conference grants offered by other Society SIGS and should feel free to apply for multiple applicable grants once their proposal is accepted for the 2019 meeting. For more information on SHOT Travel Grants, please see: https://www.historyoftechnology.org/about-us/travel-grants/. For more information and contact information about other SIG Conference Grants, please see: https://www.historyoftechnology.org/special-interest-groups/.
Committee Members:
Julie Cohn, University of Houston
Whitney Laemmli, Carnegie-Mellon University
Alan Meyer, Auburn University
Corinna Schlombs, Rochester Institute of Technology
EDITH Conference Support Awards
SHOT’s Special Interest Group Exploring Diversity in Technology’s History (EDITH) has its own conference grant program. The EDITH grants are designed to defray costs associated with participating in the SHOT annual meeting, typically lodging, meals, and other incidental expenses. Eligibility is open to individuals giving a paper at the SHOT annual meeting.
The Society for the History of Technology (SHOT) Special Interest Group Exploring Diversity in Technology’s History (EDITH) announced its conference grant program for 2019. The EDITH Conference Support Awards are designed to defray costs associated with participating in the SHOT annual meeting, typically lodging, meals, and other incidental expenses. Eligibility is open to individuals giving a paper at the 2019 SHOT annual meeting in Milan.
EDITH was founded in 2012 with the dual aims of supporting scholars and scholarship currently underrepresented in the history of technology and at SHOT. EDITH works toward incorporating insights from the fields of race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, class, and disability studies – and growing attention to the intersectionality of such categories –into the scholarship of the history of technology and providing an intellectual home within SHOT to a broad range of scholars.
The EDITH Conference Support Award prioritizes promoting the participation of: presenters with incomplete funding from other sources, presenters who are new to SHOT, graduate students, presenters belonging to any group underrepresented in SHOT, and scholars whose paper seeks to provoke analysis of difference, diversity, power, alterity, intersectionalities, etc. in the history of technology. Preference will be given to those who have not received funding from EDITH in recent years.
EDITH grants typically range from $250 to $300, with the possibility of additional funds depending on an applicant’s stated need, the number of applications, and on EDITH’s resources. These grants will be presented in the form of a check at the annual meeting, with recognition at the EDITH luncheon meeting, the cost of which will be covered for award recipients.
To apply for the EDITH conference support award, please fill out an application form and attach the following documents: a cover letter explaining how you will contribute to “Exploring Diversity” in SHOT; a brief budget outlining anticipated total expenses associated with your trip, including travel; an abstract of your proposed paper with evidence that it has been accepted by the SHOT program committee; and a one-page curriculum vitae.
At the moment it is not possible to apply for an EDITH Conference Support grant. The next application round will be announced Spring 2021.
We encourage applicants to apply for a SHOT travel grant if eligible, and/or a WITH award, with the understanding that funding from more than one source can sometimes be combined. The EDITH award may supplement the SHOT grant, which helps cover the more substantial costs of airfare and basic conference registration.
| Paul Josephson (2018-2021) | Geoff Zylstra (2021-2023) |
| Lee Vinsel (2021-2023) | Amy Bix (ex officio) |