The WARC Travel Grant program promotes intra-African cooperation and exchange among researchers and institutions by providing support to African scholars and graduate students for research visits to other institutions on the continent. The WARC Travel Grant provides travel costs up to $1,500 and a stipend of $1,500. This competition is only open to West African nationals, with preference given to those affiliated with West African colleges, universities, or research institutions.

Travel grant funds may be used to: 1) attend and present papers at academic conferences relevant to the applicant’s field of research; 2) visit libraries or archives that contain resources necessary to the applicant’s current academic work; 3) engage in collaborative work with colleagues at another institution; 4) travel to a research site.

Please Note:

Fall WARC Travel Grant applications open June 15th - September 15th each year to fund research from December 1st to June 30th of each year.

Spring WARC Travel Grant applications open January 15th - March 15th each year to fund research from July 1st-December 31st of each year.

This is an online application. Any hard copy applications received in the mail will not be considered.

Below is a list of documents you will need to upload to this application. Be sure to include all of the documents listed; Incomplete documents will not be considered.

• A brief (50-80 word) abstract of the activity to be funded, beginning with a clear statement of purpose
• A description (6 double-spaced pages maximum) of the applicant’s research and how the proposed travel is relevant to this work. This should be presented in a language understandable to non-specialist readers
• A curriculum vitae with research and teaching record when relevant
• All Applicants must submit a letter of recommendation either by the professor overseeing their research or a colleague
• A proposed project budget
• Proof of citizenship in the form of a photocopy of the applicants passport (please note: this competition is open only to West African nationals)
• If a doctoral student, a letter of recommendation from their dissertation advisor in addition to the above-mentioned letter of recommendation
• If attending a conference, an abstract of the paper to be read and a letter of acceptance to the conference
• If visiting another institution, and invitation from host institution
• If travel is to consult archives or other materials, a description of the collections to be consulted and their significance to the applicant’s research.

All letters of recommendation should include the following:

• Length of time you’ve known the applicant
• Capacity in which you know the applicant (Student, advisee, etc.)
• Your assessment of the applicant’s ability to carry out the proposed research project
• The importance of the proposed research to the scholarly community

Please contact wara@bu.edu if you experience any technical issues.