Reimbursement for Travel to Princeton

Guidelines for Reimbursement of Travel Expenses (2023 Version)

Reimbursement will be provided for travel expenses for some school participants, up to a specified limit, upon presentation of valid receipts. The following guidelines apply:

  • Participants should in general plan on traveling to Princeton on Sunday, 16 July, 2023, and traveling home on Friday, 21 July, 2023, unless authorized by the lead organizer (Peter Elmer).
  • Participants should pay for their travel themselves and will be reimbursed up to the specified limits after the school has finished.
  • The reimbursement can be done by check or bank transfer, typically within 5-10 business days from submission and approval of the required documentation.
  • Only the participant can be directly reimbursed (not the participant's research group).
  • Reimbursed travel should use the least expensive options possible, which reasonably meet normal travel time constraints.
  • Reimbursed travel should be booked in regular, economy fares. No business class or paid economy class upgrades can be reimbursed. In cases where airlines offer "economy basic" or similar discounted fares, with limitations on carry-on baggage or similar, it is fine to choose the "regular" economy fare permitting baggage.
  • For participants flying from outside the U.S., air flights can only be reimbursed if the carrier is allowed by the Fly America Act and U.S. Open Skies agreements and normally reimbursable with U.S. government (NSF) sponsored research funds.
  • For long distance ground travel, mass transportation (train, bus) is preferred to long distance taxi. If necessary, a taxi (uber, lyft) can be used from Princeton Junction to Princeton for late arrivals in place of the Dinky (train station on campus).
  • Car rentals will not be reimbursed unless specifically authorized by the school lead organizer (Peter Elmer)
  • Breakfast, lunches and coffee breaks will be provided at no cost to you from Monday to Friday, as well as a light reception on Monday evening and a "Social Mixer" event (with food) on Tuesday evening and dinner at a local restaurant on Thursday evening. Dinner on Wednesday is on one's own. Additional meals costs will not be reimbursed.
  • Non-Princeton participants coming from locations within reasonable driving distance of Princeton University may choose to drive their personal automobile. Reimbursement will be provided based on mileage using the University rates. An itinerary map (e.g. from Google Maps) should be provided in lieu of a receipt.
  • Receipts should be provided in electronic form (scanned or clear photos), and grouped together into a single pdf file.
  • The form(s) for reimbursement are linked below. This should in general be filled out by one week after the end of the school week itself (i.e. Friday, 28 July, 2023) and submitted along with the electronic copy of the receipts described above.

When planning your travel, please remember to take into account not only any relevant flight to the NJ/NYC area, but also train or other travel to arrive at the Princeton campus. Please see the Travel to Princeton webpage for more information.

If you have any questions or doubts about travel reimbursement please send an email with your travel plan to codas-hep@googlegroups.com before booking to get confirmation on reimbursement.

Forms for reimbursement

Please ignore this section for now. It will be discussed on the last day of the school itself.

There are two relevant forms for travel reimbursement:

Please note the following:

  • The form can be filled out electronically (e.g. in Acrobat Reader). This is the preferred method in order to guarantee legibility.
  • You can either sign the pdf electronically (e.g. in Acrobat Reader) or fill it out electronically, print the result, sign it and scan the result.
  • If you cannot fill the form out electronically, print the form and fill it out using clear block letters. Sign it and make a clear scan of the completed form.
  • On the form:
    • Fill out "Today's date" in the upper right hand corner of the form
    • Fill out your name, address and business phone
    • Specify the departure and return date from your trip to the school (please use MM/DD/YY format)
    • Use "Princeton, NJ, USA" for the "Destination"
    • For "Business Purpose", specify "Participation in CoDaS-HEP 2023 school"
    • Fill out the list of expenses as appropriate. Include the date (in MM/DD/YY format), a short description of the type of expense and the amount in U.S. Dollars.
    • If you paid an expense in something other than U.S. Dollars, look up the exchange rate (corresponding to the date of the expense!) on Oanda and make a screenshot of the rate (including the date). Include the screenshot in the pdf with the receipt. Put the equivalent U.S. Dollar cost in the form in the "Amount" column and include the amount in the foreign currency (with label such as CHF, EUR) in parentheses in the item "Description". (Note that the administration may adjust the conversion amount if the wrong rate or date is used.)
    • Add your name, date and signature at the bottom of the form.
  • Make a readable scan or clear photo of all relevant receipts for the expenses to be reimbursed.
  • Combine the forms and scanned receipt images into a single pdf in the following order:
    • Guest Reimbursement Request Form
    • Supplier Onboarding Form (if relevant)
    • Scans of relevant receipts
  • Please name the file codas-hep-2023-yourfirstname-yourlastname.pdf
  • Send the single pdf as an attachment in email to codas-hep@googlegroups.com with an email subject line including your name and the word "reimbursement".