School of Engineering
Department of Biomedical Engineering

Research Travel

Tufts University Travel Policy 

Graduate and undergraduate students who are “active participants” (i.e., traveling to conferences to represent Tufts or present a paper) are considered to be traveling on behalf of the university. Expenses are processed as a business reimbursement.

Graduate and undergraduate students traveling to a conference related to student-led research as a means of advancing their personal knowledge/education, will receive a non-qualified travel scholarship. Students will be required to register through PaymentWorks and submit a W-9 Form  (or Alien Payment Information Form  + W8-BEN Form  if international).  Please note, this scholarship may be taxable. 

Biomedical Engineering Travel & Expense Reimbursement Policy 

The Biomedical Engineering (BME) Department covers allowable and reasonable expenses incurred for travel conducted on behalf of the department. The BME Department policy is subject to change based on Tufts University’s travel guidance and restrictions. 

Before you register for a conference, or book your flight, you must have PI approval/permission. PI approval emails must include the following.  

  • CONFERENCE INFORMATION - The conference name, conference location, date of conference, and approved travel dates of travel for the conference.
  • JUSTIFICATION - The reason for the student to attend the conference. 

Travel arrangements and Payment

  • ABSTRACT SUBMISSION - Abstracts need to be submitted in the BME main office and paid via department credit card.
  • CONFERENCES - Conference registration must be completed in the BME main office (SciTech 229) and paid for via department credit card. This transaction should include ONLY the cost of the conference registration. Any other activities, meals, events, and/or seminars associated with the conference need to be covered by the student and submitted to BME staff for reimbursement after the conference.
  • AIRLINE TICKETS - Airline tickets must be purchased with the BME travel card through the Tufts Travel Agent, and should only include the flight. The airline ticket CANNOT cover prepaid seat assignments, extra legroom, or any additional charge for checked baggage. Combo-flights are not allowed. Flights must leave Boston and return to Boston. If the student's travel request require a different arrangement, then they will need to book the travel themselves, not through the Tufts Travel Agent, pay out of pocket, and then submit for reimbursement after the conference. Reimbursement reductions will be made for any personal travel outside of the approved travel period.
  • MEALS - To properly reimburse student meals, all receipts for meals must be itemized. We do not want to set a maximum amount for the meals, but students should use judgement, and order with a limited budget in mind. A rough estimate would be around $40 per person per day, or less. Meals deemed excessive will not be reimbursed by the department. Alcohol purchases are not reimbursable. Due to multiple PI funding sources and funding source stipulations, each student must submit receipts for their meals only. Student group meals covered by one student are not reimbursable.   
  • LODGING - Hotels must be booked and prepaid by the student; the reimbursement will be processed upon completion of the trip with an itemized final hotel receipt showing a zero balance. Similar to meal expenditures, we expect students to be conservative in the price of the room they choose. When possible, two (2) or more occupants should share the room. Students should book lodging reservations in a timely manner to ensure that they are receiving the best discounted rate. If the conference has reserved a block of rooms and is providing a discounted rate, students will be reimbursed at this rate, if they choose to not to book within the discounted block at another hotel.
  • STUDENT JUSTIFICATION DOCUMENTS REQUIRED - Student must provide a copy of the conference/workshop/etc. documents clearly displaying the name of the conference they attended, the location of the conference, date(s) and time(s) of the event they have attended as support for the length of lodging reimbursement. Reimbursement for lodging will be based on the duration of your conference/event attendance; reimbursement reductions will be made for any personal lodging outside of the approved travel period.
  • GROUND TRANSPORTATION - Should the student need to use a taxi, Uber/Lyft, train, bus, or public transportation while traveling to a conference or departmental business, please save the receipts. Students will be reimbursed upon their return.

Reconciliation and Reimbursement

  • Good financial practice requires all travel reports/reconciliations be submitted within 30 days of travel. Receipts not submitted within 30 days of completed travel on grant funding may not be reimbursable. Properly approved and documented reports will be processed by Accounts Payable, and any employee reimbursement will be made via a direct deposit to the employee’s bank account on file. All reimbursements are subject to a post-audit review by the Finance Division that may necessitate a correction for unallowable, unnecessary or undocumented expenses. If because of this correction money is owed to the university, the employee will be contacted for payment, or a credit will be made against a future reimbursement.