Finance & Grants
The Committee
What do they Do?
In addition to Council, the DSS is also composed of the Finance & Grants Committee. The F&G Committee is made up of the President, the Vice President of Finance, the President of each of our Constituent Societies and the Treasurers of each of our Constituent Societies. Our main responsibility is to appropriately allocate grant money by reviewing all applications submitted for personal grants and conference grants. The committee has the total authority to approve, deny or alter the amount of funding requested for any application; however, all decisions made must be approved by the majority of the committee. There is also the ability to review and adjust the disbursements of each constituent society and the ability to discuss the financial operations of the DSS, as necessary. The committee meetings are held biweekly and are mediated by the Chair of our society.
Grant Information
Since the DSS is committed to supporting student research at Dalhousie, we offer personal and conference grants to students to help make research more accessible. The funding for the grants comes from the money that the Dalhousie Science Society gets from the Dalhousie Student Union. Every science students pays a levy to the DSU which is given to us, and allocated to society constituents, grants, events, etc. A total of 20% of our money goes to grants for science students.
Grants are allocated on a first come first serve basis. Applications are first reviewed by the VP of Finance and if approved, it is then passed to the Finance and Grants Committee. This committee is composed of the President and Treasurer of each of our departmental level societies, giving the committee a total of 28 voting members. We offer personal grants and conference grants, as outlined below.
Personal Grants
Each member shall be allowed a maximum personal grant of $500 for each fiscal year. Personal grants can be used to subsidize 50% of expenses related to any of the following:
Expenses related to the move to online schooling (examples: upgrading technology, purchasing a webcam, creating a good at home study space)
Expenses related to products or programs that support your mental health (at home work-out equipment, any other reasonable request)
Up to $180 of the $500 can be allotted for these expenses
Expenses related to hosting an extracurricular event that benefits science students
Expenses related to presenting Dalhousie-based research at science conferences (for 2020-21 this should only include registration for online conferences)
The typical purpose of personal grants is to encourage and support students in endeavours who present Dalhousie based research at Science Conferences or represent Dalhousie in a panel discussion at a Science Conference, but it’s use has been widened this year. When travel resumes, Personal Grants can be used to subsidize the costs of travel expenses, accommodations, and registration fees for in person conferences. No grant money may be spent on the purchase of alcohol or food.
Conference grants
Each departmental society is allowed a maximum grant of $1000 for conferences organized by the society or journal publications for each fiscal year. After the completion of the conference or journal publication, all receipts must be submitted to the society for audit purposes, and all unused grant funding or unaccounted-for money must be returned to the society. Any money not returned will be removed from the society's next disbursement.
To apply for a personal or conference grant, please fill out the appropriate sections of the grant application form. If you have any questions at all about your application, feel free to send us an email at dss@dal.ca.