Travel and Reimbursement

Travel budget per traveler

To maximize the number of Genome Architecture and Function participants, the organizers have put a cap on the reimbursement amount for each traveller based on location.

$2000 for US Faculty

$1500 for US students/postdocs

E500 for European guests

NOTE: Amount does not include hotel & group meals which will be paid for by the meeting directly.

Travel airfare instruction & rules

Travel reimbursements will be coordinated by Margie Dieter at Rice University ( mmdieter@rice.edu ).

Please make your own travel arrangements to Sofia, Bulgaria and share your ticket information including cost with Margie Dieter at mmdieter@rice.edu for budget tracking. Please be aware of the following guidelines:

Due to Covid-19 uncertainties, please book refundable flights and travel whenever possible. RICE University cannot reimburse travellers for un-used travel tickets.

U.S. flag carriers (airlines and ships registered in the U.S.) must be used for all international travel funded by U.S. government contracts and grants unless certain conditions are met. Fly America/Book through US Carrier only rules apply. 

Fly America Act Waiver Checklist - United States Department of State state.gov

Many major EU/European airlines have US partners and can be booked via the US airline partner. There is a list of countries under Open Skies  listed on the website above that also qualify. Note: Great Britain and Turkey are not EU countries so British Airways (and other British airlines including Ryanair) and Turkish Air flights are not currently allowed.

RICE cannot reimburse flights purchased with a voucher.

Federal travel restrictions apply. Coach/economy fares only with one checked bagged allowed.

Please make air/ground transportation reservations as early as possible to take advantage of lower fares. 

Reimbursements

Travel expenses include flights, trains, cabs (etc) and meals not already covered by the meeting up to the maximum allowed amounts described above will be reimbursed post-workshop.

Meal Receipts: Only meals not offered directly by the meeting can be reimbursed. Meal receipts must include the itemized portion that lists what was purchased in addition to the payment portion (often two separate receipts). 

All Alcohol must be deducted from receipts.

If you are NOT affiliated with Rice University please follow these instructions for reimbursement.

Reimbursements will be made in amounts up to the capped amounts listed on the Travel page.

A receipt should have the date, name of merchant, amount charged, item purchased and the last 4 digits of the credit card that was used. (Meal receipts must include the itemized portion in addition to the payment receipt.)

Scan all of your receipts in chronological order into ONE pdf file, including your boarding passes for all flights and email the PDF to Margie Dieter.

If an individual charge is not stated in USD, please go to OANDA , select the date for the charge, enter the amount to convert and save the page as a PDF to be included in your submission.

Rice University cannot reimburse for any alcohol. If something on your receipt looks like it might be alcohol, please write on the form “No alcohol was charged to this request” and initial it.

If you did charge alcohol on a receipt, simply deduct that amount. Rice can reimburse the rest of the meal.

You must register as a supplier with Rice University prior to being reimbursed. Please contact Margie Dieter and provide your name, address, and phone number. She will enter your information into the system and you will receive an email from a third party (Oracle) asking you to confirm this information and provide additional information such as the W-9 or W-8 Form. You cannot be reimbursed without this step.

Rice University Employees and Postdocs/Graduate Students

Please follow standard Rice reimbursement policy