Last Update on: 28 January 2026

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1. Purpose
2. Scope
3. Definitions and Acronyms
4. Objectives
5. Eligibility Criteria
6. Application Process
7. Program Benefits and Payments
8. Reimbursement
9. Affiliation and Acknowledgments
10. Implementation, Compliance, and Reporting
11. Compliance and Performance Indicators
12. Document Amendment Information
13. Appendixes

1. PURPOSE

The purpose of these guidelines is to support the administration of the Conference Attendance Program for graduate students.

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2. SCOPE

1. These guidelines apply to all norms issued to support conference attendance.
2. These guidelines apply to all graduate students at KFUPM.

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3. DEFINITIONS AND ACRONYMS 

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4. OBJECTIVES

1. The Deanship of Research (DR), in coordination with the College of Graduate & Interdisciplinary Studies (CGIS), will manage the Graduate Student Conference Program.
2. The program encourages graduate students to interact and exchange ideas with internationally renowned scholars and researchers, promote KFUPM’s research, and support the cohort of innovative ideas.

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5. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA 

5.1 Applicant Eligibility 

1. Applicants must be enrolled (full-time) in a graduate (PhD and MS) program and be a registered student during the term in which the conference takes place.
2. Applicant must have a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 in the semester in which he is applying for the conference. For PhD Student, he/she has to successfully pass the comprehensive exam.
3. Students must present a paper at the conference for which funds are requested. In the event of multiple co-authors from KFUPM in the accepted paper for presentation, only the presenting author may receive an award.
4. The Conference paper acceptance should be based on full paper submission. Accepted paper can be in the form of abstract/extended abstract/full paper.
5. A student can participate in up to two (2) International & Regional conferences covered under this program during his study in a program at KFUPM.

5.2 Conference Eligibility 

1. The program supports attendance to flagship conferences:
   • ranked as A* or A provided by departments and approved by the DR and listed in the DR website.
2. The program also supports attendance at non-flagship conferences (not listed on the DR website). However, applications will be subject to a review process, which may take up to 45 days for completion. Final approval will be granted by DR based on review output.
3. Attendance of a student to conferences held in his own country of origin is not encouraged unless the conference is flagship (A*) and/or there is a strong justification of its quality.

5.3 Conference Attendance Restricted Period

A student is NOT allowed to attend a conference during final exams if he/she is registered for courses.

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6. APPLICATION PROCESS

6.1 Application Procedure

1. Applying through the Online Application Form in the DR Website and submit the following:
   • Copy of the accepted paper to be presented.
   • Proof of acceptance of the paper (abstract/extended abstract/full paper) printed from the conference Online Managing Submission System (such as EDAS, TrackChair, OpenConf, etc.).
   • No-Objection Letters from Co-Authors affiliated to KFUPM in the accepted paper, be it a staff, student, faculty, or researchers
   • A brief statement on the relevance of the conference/exhibition to the student research must be attached to the application. A filled application form with supporting documents endorsed and signed by the Thesis Advisor and the Chairman of academic department with the supporting documents.
2. The completed application form and required documents must be submitted at least (30) thirty “working” days prior to the conference dates in order to have enough time for the travel arrangements.

6.2. Approval Procedure

1. The DR shall manage the approval process that starts with application, then screening at the Conference Office, and final approval by Vice President for Research & Innovation (VPRI).
2. The CSO shall inform the applicants of DR’s decision.
3. The DR will issue conference support letter (based on the approval) with the approval memo including the estimation amount.

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7. PROGRAM BENEFITS AND PAYMENTS

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8. REIMBURSEMENT

1. With the completion of the conference, the student should submit to the Conference Office the following:
   • Conference trip report, detailing the program, themes, organization of the conference etc.;
   • Conference registration fees invoice, and its proof of payments (Bank Transaction/Letter);
   • Air ticket and flight booking with the invoice, and its proof of payment (Bank Transaction/Letter);
   • Hotel Booking with the invoice, and its proof of payment (Bank Transaction/Letter).
2. Upon submitting conference attendance and expenses report (invoices and proof of payments) to the DR, the approved amount will be charged to SCONF project.

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9. AFFILIATION AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 

1. The appropriate affiliation of the Department, the University in the full-length paper is a pre-requisite for considering any conference attendance application.
2. The University should be exclusively acknowledged in full (with the project number in case of paper resulting from a funded project). The following is an example of acknowledgment: “The author(s) would like to acknowledge the support provided by the Deanship of Research at King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals (KFUPM) under Research Grant xxxxx)

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10. IMPLEMENTATION, COMPLIANCE, AND REPORTING

1. DR shall implement these guidelines.
2. Non-compliance with any provision in these guidelines shall be reported to DR.

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11. COMPLIANCE AND PERFORMANCE INDICATORS

In monitoring and reviewing the implementation of these guidelines, the following compliance and performance indicators shall be used:

1. Number of conference applications received, approved and rejected each year;
2. Number of graduate student applying for, and receiving support for conference attendance;
3. Level of funding support for conference attendance each year.

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12. DOCUMENT AMENDEMTN INFORMATION

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15. APPENDIXES

• Appendix 1 - Flagship Conferences

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