Charlie Butterworth said he had two choices when he was planning presentations – get a grant or stay home.

Butterworth, who has made presentations at conferences in Albuquerque, Portland, Ore. and St. Louis in the past few years, was able to get a Professional Advance Grant, provided by the Graduate Student Senate and the Graduate College.

“If it wasn’t for the Professional Advancement Grant, I wouldn’t have been able to go,” said Butterworth, graduate student in botany. “My grant covered three-fourths of the expenses.”

The university is strong at helping graduate students in need, Butterworth said.

“They help with costs quite consistently,” he said. “For people who don’t have funds, it’s pretty important.”

The grants are provided for students who want to expand their knowledge or are in need of someone to take care of their children while they are away at a research symposium.

Professional Advance Grant chairwoman Erin Heep said the grants have a lot of benefits.

“It allows students who have curiosity about an overall component of their studies to learn more about it,” said Heep, Graduate Student Senate member.

The travel grants provide funds to students who are traveling to a professional meeting where research is presented. The meetings can also provide a learning experience the student could not receive at Iowa State. The table of grants can be found at the GSS Web site, www.grad-college.iastate.edu/gss.

Applications must be received at least 10 days in advance of departure, according to the Web site.

The grants do not cover every trip, Heep said.

“[The funds] cannot be connected with their dissertation or thesis,” she said.

According to the GSS Web site, the research grants provide a maximum of $300 to students who wish to do research beyond their degree requirements. As in the travel grant, the funds must be used toward research that is extracurricular and not part of their classroom course work. For Spring semester, the deadline for this grant is Feb. 15.

The child-care grants, which cover child-care expenses while a student is at a symposium, provide $25 per day for up to four days. Travel funds cannot be used to cover child-care costs, according to the Web site.

Child-care grants took effect last year after a couple, both attending a meeting, ran into child-care problems, Heep said.

“They had all of their expenses paid except child care,” she said.

Graduate students are eligible to receive one of each kind of grant per fiscal year.

Despite benefits, Heep said there is a major disadvantage to the grants.

“The research grants are on a competitive basis,” she said. “We have a limited amount of money to give away. Although it is not a large amount of money, it is better than nothing.”

The travel grants come on a first-come, first-served basis, Heep said.

Beth Jensen, graduate student in chemistry, said she used the travel grant last year to attend the Midwest High Temperature and Solid State Conference at Colorado State University.

“Having this outside funding made it possible for all of the students in this department to go,” Jensen said. “The grant is an excellent idea to make funds available.”