Most travel grants ask for a personal statement of a few hundred words. It is the only part of the application where the panel hears your voice, and it is where most applications are won or lost.
Answer three questions
A strong statement answers, in this order:
- Why this programme? Name something specific about it: a course, a lab, a city, a teacher. "I have always wanted to travel" could be written by anyone.
- Why you? Show what you have already done in the field, however small. A school project, a club you started, a book that changed your mind.
- What happens afterwards? Explain what you will bring back: to your school, your town, your next step in education.
Be concrete
Replace adjectives with facts. "I am passionate about biology" says little. "I spent last summer testing water samples from the river near my school" says a lot more, and in fewer words.
Cut what the panel already knows
Do not repeat your grades or your CV; they are in the form. Do not explain what the host institution is. Use the space for what only you can tell them.
Read it aloud
Before you send it, read the statement aloud. Sentences that make you stumble will make the reader stumble too. Then ask one person who knows you, and one who does not, to read it.
Respect the limit
If the form says 300 to 4,000 characters, a focused 2,000 is usually better than a padded 4,000. Panels notice when a statement says the same thing three times.
The best statements sound like a person talking about something they care about, not like an essay written for a grade.
When you are ready, the open calls are listed on the grants pages, each with its own deadline.