Travel Support

The Graduate School supports graduate students’ travel for academic purposes in several ways.

Financial Support

Travel Services

International SOS

•         The Graduate School strongly encourages all graduate students who travel internationally to register online with International SOS to enable ISOS and the University to locate travelers and coordinate services in the event of an emergency.  Registration is particularly important for graduate students traveling to countries that are under current State Department travel warnings.

You can access the ISOS website directly at http://www.internationalsos.com

Use the University’s membership number as your login: 11BCPA000227.

•         For a range of information on international travel, go to http://travel.georgetown.edu/

•         Georgetown University policy on student travel to locations subject to State Department Travel Warnings

•         State Department Travel Warnings: http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/tw/tw_1764.html

Financial Support

A limited number of competitive Conference Travel Grants are available to master's and doctoral students who are presenting their research (for more information: http://grad.georgetown.edu/pages/conference_travel_grants.cfm).

Several Doctoral Dissertation Research Travel Awards are awarded each year to support the travel costs of doctoral students engaged in archival or field research outside the U.S. (for more information: http://grad.georgetown.edu/pages/dissertation_research_su.cfm).

Travel Services

Georgetown University has contracted with International SOS to provide worldwide travel services for students, faculty, and staff.  This service is intended for those who travel outside the United States on University business or to pursue sanctioned academic work or research.  Travel is construed as the student’s presence in another country, regardless of the point of departure or the student’s nationality. Sanctioned academic work or research is academic work or research that partially fulfills a student’s degree requirements.  Examples include research for a course, a master’s research paper or thesis, or a doctoral dissertation; participation in a required internship; or participation in a language program to fulfill a degree’s language proficiency requirement.

International SOS medical services range from telephone advice and referrals to full-scale medical evacuation by private air ambulance. International SOS also provides for evacuations prompted by political instability or natural disaster.  The ISOS network of multilingual specialists operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year from Alarm Centers located around the world. 

Georgetown graduate students may access pre-trip and up-to-date travel reports for more than 170 countries worldwide on health issues, security advice, and vaccination requirements via the ISOS website located at http://www.internationalsos.com.  In addition, this website contains an on-line Personal Locator form for inputting travel and destination information. 

The Graduate School strongly encourages all graduate students who travel internationally to register online with International SOS to enable ISOS and the University to locate travelers and coordinate services in the event of an emergency.  Registration is particularly important for graduate students traveling to countries that are under current State Department travel warnings.

(See Georgetown University’s policy on student travel to locations subject to State Department  Travel Warnings.

To Access ISOS

•         You can access the ISOS website directly at http://www.internationalsos.com .   Use the University’s membership number as your login: 11BCPA000227. 

•         Visit the Risk Management website at: http://riskmanagement.georgetown.edu/  for additional information.

It is recommended that travelers keep a wallet-size card with them that lists the GU group membership number and the ISOS Alarm Center emergency phone numbers.  Members can print an emergency card from the ISOS website.

It is important to understand that ISOS is not health insurance.  The University continues to require students, faculty and staff traveling outside the U.S. on University business to maintain adequate health insurance while abroad.  In some cases, workers’ compensation benefits may be available for University employees. 

Georgetown University policy on student travel to locations subject to State Department Travel Warnings

Georgetown University does not affirmatively encourage travel that contravenes Department of State Travel Warnings. Faculty and staff who are contemplating travel for students to a location subject to a current Travel Warning must request and obtain advance permission from the University. In evaluating such requests, the University will assess whether the proposed trip complies with the applicable Travel Warning. Students who are planning to study on an independent basis in a location subject to a current Travel Warning must request and obtain advance permission from the University in order to receive academic credit or financial support for such study. In evaluating such requests, the University will assess the academic necessity and appropriateness of the proposed study, the individual's personal preparedness, and give great weight to the content of the relevant travel warning. Undergraduate, medical and law students should submit their requests to the Office of International Programs of their respective campuses. Main Campus graduate students should submit their requests to the Graduate School. Undergraduate students interested in studying abroad in a country under a Department of State Travel Warning should visit the OIP Resource Center in Poulton Hall and research potential programs as soon as possible.