AAAS S&T Policy Fellowships

All federal funding is subject to audit, as federal/fellowship dollars may only be spent on travel/training directly related to the fellowship.

Adding personal travel is a courtesy, and all personal travel MUST be documented and separated from approved fellowship related travel. 

Please carefully read the steps below to ensure you understand the expenses that will be reimbursed and those that are your responsibility:

• All travel/training requests must be submitted via FellowsCentral and approved by your mentor and STPF.  
• Travel/training requests that are considered local-within 50 miles of the DMV from your home location (not your office) are unallowable to receive any travel related costs (i.e., meal per diem, hotel accommodations, transportation costs (outside of parking where applicable)).
• Personal Travel is considered any days that are attached to a travel/training request outside of the actual days of the conference, training, or event.  

Example: the conference is in Chicago, and the conference dates are November 5-9, allowable travel dates would be as follows:

• Travel from DC to Chicago on November 4-5 depending on conference schedule.
• Return to DC on November 9-10 depending on conference schedule.
• If the conference ends in the afternoon (by 3-4pm) and there are flights that return to the DC area at a reasonable hour (by 9pm) then the flight should be booked to return on the 9^th.  If the conference ends at 5pm or later, an extra night is allowable.   
• IF you choose to stay an extra night, please attach the conference agenda to the travel/training request for approval.

• If the location is on the west coast, due to time differences in most cases, an extra night is allowable. If you are including personal days on the front or back end of your travel request, please indicate that on the travel/training request form in Fellows Central (even if those days fall on a weekend).   

IF you choose to add personal days, the following will be required:

• Please provide a flight comparison for the different dates using a travel browser like www.kayak.com. There should be TWO flight options: FIRST ONLY for the dates of the approved travel/training and SECOND for the dates of your personal travel.  
  • If the conference dates are November 5-9 and you would like to stay through the weekend until November 12^th, the request MUST include:
    • One set of flights for the conference dates of 5-9 AND
    • Another set of flights for the conference includes the personal travel dates 5-12 with the exact or similar flights.  IF the flight with the personal travel is more expensive, STPF will reimburse UP TO the cost of the flight without the personal travel days.
• Meal per diem, hotel accommodations and transportation expenses are unallowable for any personal days. You will receive 75% meal per diem for the city to which you are flying to when you leave the DMV, 100% meal per diem for the travel location on the full days of the event, and 75% meal per diem for DC on the last day of the event or original return date.
  • Using the November 5-9 conference dates and the personal travel for November 10-12, meal per diem is UNALLOWABLE for November 10, 11, 12 assuming that you could have flown back on the 9^th after the conference.  You will receive 75% per diem to DC on the 9^th and nothing thereafter.

Any expenditures that are not pre-approved, related to personal travel, and do not follow this procedure will not be reimbursed.

If you have any questions or need assistance with a travel/training request, please contact us via Freshdesk.