Funding Opportunities

Students with out of state internships can apply for $1500 travel funding in reimbursement to offset travel costs for one or more in-person experiences.

For winter quarter travel funding, the PE/VC Lab Travel Funding Application and Budget Submission Form, must be submitted no later than March 13, and the PE/VC Lab Travel Funding Receipts form must be submitted no later than March 22 in order to receive funding.

For Spring quarter travel funding, the PE/VC Lab Travel Funding Application and Budget Submission Form, must be submitted no later than May 29, and the PE/VC Lab Travel Funding Receipts form must be submitted no later than June 5, in order to receive funding.

Students must complete below steps to receive travel funding in a two-phase process:

Phase 1

1. Review the Private Equity and Venture Capital Lab Travel Funding Guidelines to confirm what is permissible to receive funding and if student is eligible.
2. Submit a proposed budget to the Polsky Center through the PE/VC Lab Travel Funding Application and Budget Submission Form. This form is currently password protected until the PE/VC Lab program starts.

• In form students will need to fill out and upload:
  • Completed Budget Proposal
  • Completed travel guidelines
  • Signed travel waiver
• Host Firm will automatically receive Host Firm Travel Funding Approval Form to confirm student’s travel.
• Polsky Center will review justification for travel and ensure it is directly related to the students PE/VC Lab internship.

If budget is approved, student will receive an email from the Polsky Center confirming they are approved for funding and student may proceed to phase 2. The phase 2 form is password protected and password will be shared once phase 1 is approved by the Polsky Center.

Phase 2

3. Student:

• proceeds with booking travel that aligns with their proposed budget.
• must collect receipts from travel to submit.

4. Submit PE/VC Lab Travel Funding Receipts form with receipts incurred from travel.

• In form students will need to fill out and upload:
  • Legibly scanned receipts organized by transaction date (in PDF format). Receipts must show proof of payment (i.e., vendor, transaction date, description of goods and services, the amount paid, and form of payment)
  • Completed finalized budget (please add in your expenses you actually incurred through your travel)
• Once this second form is approved, you will receive an email from the Polsky Center that your travel funding is in processing and you should receive an update about receiving payment within 1-3 weeks of receiving approval email.

Students with in-state internships or incurring local expenses may apply for up to $500 for transportation expenses (in accordance with the University of Chicago’s policies on travel) and educational material purchases related to their internships. To see what is a permissible expense eligible for local reimbursement please consult this document. 

Please reach out to Megan Fox (megan.fox@chicagobooth.edu) and Juliet Twomey (juliet.twomey@chicagobooth.edu) to apply for local reimbursement as a participant of the PE/VC Lab and gain access to necessary forms.

Steps to apply for local reimbursement

• Review the 2025-26 PEVC Lab Reimbursement Guidelines to confirm what is permissible to receive funding and if student is eligible.
• Submit necessary paperwork to the Polsky Center through the PE/VC Lab Local Reimbursement Submission Form that includes:
  • Signed Cover Sheet and Certification Statement (this document you are currently reading). 
  • Expense itemization worksheet in Excel or Google Sheets.  
  • Legibly scanned receipts organized by date of transaction. Receipts must show proof of payment (i.e., vendor, transaction date, description of goods and services, amount paid, and method of payment).
• Polsky Center will review and ensure it is directly related to the students PE/VC Lab internship.
• If approved, student will receive an email from the Polsky Center with confirmation and timeline of receiving funds.

For any questions about local reimbursement payment processes, please contact Sarah Harris (Sarah.Harris@chicagobooth.edu) on the Polsky Center Operations team.

Deadlines

The PE/VC Lab Local Reimbursement Submission Form must be submitted no later than March 13 for winter quarter internships and May 29 for spring quarter internships, in order to receive funding.