PCAP provides up to $1,400 per academic year to support travel, registration and other allowable expenses to attend one academic conference or workshop for professional development purposes.

Note that the Faculty Travel Grant program should be used to fund professional-track faculty who are presenting at a conference.

There are several criteria that must be satisfied for a professional-track faculty member to be eligible for the PCAP program. The professional-track faculty member must:

• Have started in a professional-track faculty position at UT no later than Fall 2023
• Be benefits-eligible (> 50% in their faculty role) in both fall and spring semesters in AY2025–26 and
• Have held a benefits-eligible UT Austin faculty appointment (>50% in faculty role in both fall and spring semesters) for at least two consecutive academic years
• Currently serve as a professional-track faculty member
  • Must be appointed in the clinical, instructional, practice, research or lecturer faculty title series
• Hold any professional-track faculty rank including
  • Assistant, Associate, or Full Professor, or
  • Lecturer, Senior Lecturer or Distinguished Senior Lecturer ranks
• Have their supervisor approve
  • Eligibility, as well as
  • Type, and
  • Timing for the professional development activity requested.

Please note: Faculty in Dell Medical School and the School of Law are not eligible for this program.

The application for PCAP support requires:

• A brief justification substantiating how the conference or workshop supports the applicant’s professional development as a professional-track faculty member
  • Maximum of 200 words
• Information about the conference/workshop including
  • URL link for the conference/workshop
  • Start and end dates for the conference/workshop
  • Whether the conference or workshop attendance will be online/virtual or in-person. If online, then the cost of registration must be provided. If in-person, then travel costs estimates must also be provided (see Allowable Expenses section below.)

Note that approval from the applicant’s supervisor is required for the type and timing of professional development activity requested.  Supervisor will receive an email prompt to confirm their approval or denial of the PCAP request.

• Notifications about PCAP applications should go out no later than Tuesday, February 17, 2026
• Faculty must submit their complete PCAP application before 5 p.m. (CDT) on Friday, February 6, 2026. 
• Participation in the requested conference or workshop must start between Monday, March 9, 2026 and Saturday, August 15, 2026.
• Funding decisions will be made by the Provost’s Office. Awards are disbursed to the applicant’s department for use during the window when the eligible travel window is approved to commence: March 9, 2026 – August 15, 2026.

PCAP funding can be used to support:

• One trip to attend a conference or workshop per academic year
• Up to $1,400 per award
• Funding offers reimbursement for allowable travel-related expenses for attending the conference and/or workshop, including lodging, meals, transportation, and registration, all of which are non-taxable reimbursements (see Allowable Expenses section below).
• Funds may be used to support participation in online conferences, and for international or domestic travel for in-person conferences and workshops.

These are the only expenses that are allowed for reimbursement for online conference / workshop attendance:

• Conference/Workshop Registration Fee
  • Membership fees are NOT allowable

These are the only expenses that are allowed for reimbursement for in-person conference/workshop attendance:

• Conference/Workshop Registration Fee
  • Membership fees are NOT allowable
• Airfare – economy airfare to/from the conference.
  • Airline tickets are NOT allowed to be directly billed to the PCAP account. If the faculty member’s flight is canceled, the airline will issue the faculty member a credit instead of the University.
• Ground Transportation – Taxi/Uber/Lyft to and from the airport, hotel, conference or workshop site.
• Lodging with Meals (“per diem”) – reimbursed at the single occupancy rate.
  • Within Texas, total limit of $260/day.
  • Outside Texas (continental United States), total limit of $375/day.
  • International Travel Outside the U.S. – total limit of $425/day.
• Meals only – $51/day.

Faculty may be reimbursed for travel expenses during the conference / workshop, plus up to one day before the conference / workshop starts and one day after it ends for allowable travel to/from an in-person conference or workshop.

Travel expenses submitted for reimbursement must follow current University policy and guidelines. Please contact your CSU/departmental contact with specific questions.

Note that reimbursement for allowable travel-related expenses for the conference or workshop (lodging, meals, transportation, and registration) are non-taxable reimbursements.

Faculty should contact their CSU/departmental contact for CSU-specific expectations including handling of reimbursements.

Travel Management Services offers additional information about the professional travel planning process.

If you are traveling outside the United States, additional approvals may be required. Check the Texas Global Restricted Regions List, continually updated to reflect travel conditions to foreign countries, including special requirements for entering certain countries. Refer to the university’s International Travel Process.