USA Scholarships
Citadel Travel Grant 2026 - Fully Funded Conferences
The Citadel Travel Grant, run officially as the Citadel Conference Travel Grant, pays for students in quantitative fields to attend the technical conferences that usually price them out. Citadel and Citadel Securities run it together, and the pitch is simple: conferences are where their research teams stay current, so they fund a set of students to be in the room. Selected applicants get a full-access conference pass bought directly by Citadel, round-trip airfare and a hotel booked through the firm's travel agency, Uber vouchers to and from the airport and across the week, and a meal stipend. Recipients also get invited to Citadel-hosted dinners and recruitment events at the conference. Grace Hopper is the single carve-out, where the conference pass is excluded and the travel side still applies. You need to be enrolled in a bachelor's, master's or PhD programme, and Citadel says it is particularly interested in mathematics, computer science, physics, statistics and other quantitative fields. For research conferences that publish papers, such as ICML and NeurIPS, preference goes to applicants who submitted at least one paper. The 2026 round has two live deadlines: 25 September 2026 for Grace Hopper in Anaheim on 27 to 30 October, and 5 October 2026 for NeurIPS in Sydney on 6 to 12 December. Applying takes an email address and a resume, there is no cap on how many grants you apply for, and nobody asks you for a report afterwards.
What is the Citadel Conference Travel Grant?
The Citadel Travel Grant is the rare award that solves a problem most students in quantitative fields know well. Your subject's important work gets presented at a handful of conferences a year, those conferences are expensive, and a registration fee plus a flight plus four nights in a hotel city is not a line item a graduate stipend absorbs. Citadel, the Miami-based investment firm, runs the grant jointly with Citadel Securities and covers the lot: the full-access pass bought directly, flights and hotel booked through its own travel agency, Uber vouchers for the airport run and for getting around during the week, and a meal stipend on top. The reasoning it gives is self-interested in a way that is easy to respect. Its research teams depend on staying current, conferences are where that happens, so it pays for a group of students to be there too.
Who it wants is specific without being narrow. You have to be enrolled right now in a bachelor's, master's or PhD programme, and the firm names mathematics, computer science, physics, statistics and electrical engineering as the disciplines it is looking at hardest. Beyond that the panel weighs your academic record, your publications and any awards you have already picked up. At conferences that publish papers, ICML and NeurIPS being the examples Citadel gives, applicants who have submitted at least one paper get preference, so the grant rewards people already in the flow of the research rather than spectators. There is no GPA floor published, no test score, and no essay.
The application is where this one stops looking like a scholarship at all. It asks for an email address and a resume, accepted as .docx, .doc, .pdf or .txt up to 10MB, and that is the entire submission. No transcripts, no references, no personal statement. The practical consequence is that your resume has to do every bit of the work, so the version you send should put your field, your paper submissions and your research experience where a reviewer reading quickly cannot miss them. You may apply for as many conference grants in a year as you want, each against its own deadline, and if the conference you need is not on the eligible list, the page asks you to say so rather than treating the list as closed. Decisions arrive roughly two to four weeks after each deadline.
Two things deserve flagging before you apply. Grace Hopper is the exception to the headline benefit: the conference pass is excluded there, though the flights, hotel, vouchers and meal stipend still apply, so budget for registration yourself. And Citadel puts no dollar figure on any of this, anywhere, which means a listing quoting you a precise amount is inventing it. The eligible conferences are Grace Hopper, NeurIPS, ICML, ICLR, ACL and the Global Physics Summit March and April Meetings. For the 2026 round, Grace Hopper in Anaheim closes 25 September 2026 for a 27 to 30 October conference, and NeurIPS in Sydney closes 5 October 2026 for 6 to 12 December. Attendance has to be in person, passports and visas are yours to sort out, the stipend is taxable, and there are no obligations once you come home. If you are weighing up other routes to a conference room, the East-West Center graduate conference guide covers a cheaper one you fund yourself, and the Five Rings quantitative researcher internship guide sits in the same quant hiring world. Deadlines shift per conference, so confirm yours on the Citadel Conference Travel Grant page before you commit to anything.
Eligibility
-
✓Currently enrolled in a bachelor's, master's or PhD programmeCitadel states the grant is open to students currently enrolled in bachelor's, master's or PhD programmes. It is not open to people who have already graduated and are between degrees, and the firm reserves the right to ask for documentation proving you meet the criteria before confirming anything.
-
✓Studying a quantitative subjectThe programme describes itself as support for rising talent in STEM, naming mathematics, physics, statistics and electrical engineering, and the selection criteria add computer science and other quantitative fields. A student outside those disciplines is not formally barred, but the panel is explicitly looking for backgrounds relevant to Citadel's work.
-
✓Attending one of the eligible conferencesThe listed conferences are the Grace Hopper Celebration, NeurIPS, the Joint March and April Meeting Global Physics Summit, ICLR, ICML and ACL. If the conference you want is not on that list, the page invites you to tell them rather than ruling you out automatically.
-
✓A paper submission helps at research conferencesFor conferences that publish papers, ICML and NeurIPS named directly, preference goes to applicants who have submitted at least one paper to that conference. Presenting or otherwise actively taking part is prioritised generally, and that particular rule does not apply to Grace Hopper.
-
✓A record the panel can weighSelection looks at academic performance, publication record and previous awards, with preference for strong academic or professional backgrounds in fields relevant to Citadel. There is no published GPA cut-off and no test score requirement.
-
✓Willing and able to attend in personRecipients are expected to attend the conference in person and to be at the scheduled activities. Applying for the grant while planning to present remotely or attend virtually is explicitly ruled out, so a grant is no use to you if you cannot travel.
-
✓Responsible for your own travel documentsThe grant terms put passports, visas and any other identification needed for travel squarely on the recipient. Citadel books the flights and the hotel, but it does not sponsor or assist with a visa, which matters if you are crossing a border to reach Anaheim, Sydney or Seoul.
Benefits
- Full-access conference pass Bought directly by Citadel
- Round-trip airfare Booked through Citadel's travel agency
- Hotel Booked and paid by Citadel
- Ground transport Uber vouchers for the airport and the week
- Meals Meal stipend, details shared on selection
- Citadel dinners and recruitment events Included at your conference
- Post-conference obligations None. No report, no presentation
- A published cash value Citadel publishes no dollar figure
- Tax on the stipend Taxable, and the tax is yours to pay
- Virtual or remote attendance Not fundable, in person only
- Round-trip airfare Booked through Citadel's travel agency
- Hotel Booked and paid by Citadel
- Ground transport Uber vouchers for the airport and the week
- Meals Meal stipend, details shared on selection
- Citadel dinners and recruitment events Included at the conference
- Paper submission requirement Does not apply here
- Full-access conference pass Excluded for Grace Hopper. Budget for it
- A published cash value Citadel publishes no dollar figure
Document checklist
-
✓An email addressThe application form itself asks for little more than this and your resume. Use an address you actually watch, because notification comes by the contact methods you supply and a potential recipient who does not respond in time can lose the grant.
-
✓A resumeUploaded to the form as .docx, .doc, .pdf or .txt, at most 10MB. This is the whole substance of your application, so it has to carry your academic record, your field and anything that signals quantitative depth.
-
✓Your publication and conference submission recordThe grant terms list relevant publications and conference submissions among the required application content. If you have submitted a paper to the conference you are applying for, make that unmissable rather than burying it in a list.
-
✓Representative work experienceNamed in the terms as part of what an application must include. Research assistantships, labs, internships and industry work all speak to the "fields relevant to Citadel" test the panel applies.
-
✓Proof of eligibility on requestAs a condition of taking part, you agree to give Citadel any documentation or proof of eligibility it asks for, within the timeframe it sets. Enrolment verification is the obvious one to have ready.
-
✓Tax and compliance paperwork if selectedRecipients sign additional documentation covering tax and legal compliance, plus the detail needed to book travel and accommodation. Stipends are taxable and any tax owed is yours, so this is not a formality to skim.
-
✓A valid passport and any visa you needOnly relevant if your conference is abroad, which for NeurIPS in Sydney and ICML in Seoul means most applicants. The terms make presenting valid travel documents at the time of travel your responsibility alone.
How to apply
Deadline and timeline
FAQ
What is the Citadel Conference Travel Grant?
A grant from Citadel and Citadel Securities that pays for students in quantitative fields to attend major technical conferences. Citadel buys the full-access pass, books round-trip airfare and a hotel through its travel agency, provides Uber vouchers for the airport and the week, and adds a meal stipend. Recipients are also invited to Citadel-hosted dinners and recruitment events at the conference. The firm frames it as support for rising talent in STEM, and as a way to meet students it might later want to hire.
How much is the Citadel travel grant worth?
Citadel publishes no dollar figure, and you should treat any specific amount you see quoted elsewhere with suspicion. What the firm commits to is a list of costs rather than a sum: the conference pass, round-trip airfare, lodging, airport and week-long Uber vouchers, and a meal stipend whose details are shared with recipients after selection. The real value therefore depends on where you are flying from and which conference you attend. The stipend is taxable and any tax is the recipient's to pay.
Which conferences does the Citadel travel grant cover?
The eligible list is the Grace Hopper Celebration, NeurIPS, the Joint March and April Meeting Global Physics Summit, ICLR, ICML and ACL. Not all of them are open at once, since each conference has its own application window. If the conference you want is not listed, the grant page invites you to get in touch, and there is a separate application route for other conferences.
When is the Citadel travel grant deadline for 2026?
Two are live for the 2026 round. Grace Hopper Celebration applications close 25 September 2026, with decisions by 5 October, for a conference running 27 to 30 October 2026 in Anaheim, California. NeurIPS applications close 5 October 2026, with decisions by 9 October, for a conference running 6 to 12 December 2026 in Sydney, Australia. Deadlines are set per conference rather than once a year, so check the official page for the one you want before relying on any date.
Does the Citadel grant cover the Grace Hopper conference pass?
No, and this is the one exception worth knowing about. Citadel states plainly that the full-access pass coverage excludes the Grace Hopper Celebration. The travel side still holds, so airfare, lodging, Uber vouchers and the meal stipend are all there, but you need to budget for the registration yourself. The paper submission preference also does not apply at Grace Hopper, which makes it the most open of the eligible conferences for students without a publication record.
Can international students apply for the Citadel travel grant?
Citadel sets no citizenship or nationality condition anywhere on the grant page or in the Grant Program Terms, and the eligibility test is framed purely around current enrolment and field of study. What the terms do say is that presenting a valid passport, visa and any other identification at the time of travel is the recipient's own responsibility, with no sponsorship or visa help from Citadel. Since NeurIPS 2026 is in Sydney and ICML 2026 was in Seoul, the border question is a practical one for most applicants rather than an eligibility one.
How hard is the Citadel travel grant application?
The form is one of the lightest you will meet: an email address and a resume, uploaded as .docx, .doc, .pdf or .txt at up to 10MB. No essays, no recommendation letters, no transcripts at the application stage. That puts all the weight on the resume, since the panel judges academic performance, publication record and previous awards from it. The grant terms also note that applications which are incomplete, late or garbled are void.
Do I have to work for Citadel after taking the grant?
No. Citadel states there are no post-conference obligations for selected applicants, and no report or presentation is required afterwards. The trade is softer than that: recipients attend Citadel-hosted dinners and recruitment events at the conference, and by applying you agree that Citadel may include you in future recruiting efforts and process your data accordingly. You can also apply for as many conference travel grants in a year as you like.
Scholarship Union
More in-depth scholarship guides curated by experts.
Related guides
Always verify scholarship details on the official source before applying. Information on this page may change.
Visit official website