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AWARDS

The Graduate Academic Review Committee (1997-98 Chair: Aaron Mills) oversees research efforts in the department. This committee manages two sources of funding for students: a research award and a travel award. In addition the Committee makes decisions regarding several other Departmental Awards: the Moore Research Awards, Bannon Foundation grants, and Odum Foundation grants. Note that in all cases, application for the following awards or grants must be submitted with a signed letter of support from the student's major advisor. The letter should, in all cases indicate the current status of the student's progress, the advisor's evaluation of the proposed work, and any additional material described in the individual sections below.

Format and guidelines for preparing the proposal

Research Funding for Students

The department has a modest source of funding to help graduate students defray the costs of their research. These so-called "research mini-grants" are intended only for students who have exhausted all other sources of funding (e.g. small grants from organizations such as Sigma Xi or funds from their advisor's grants). Awards are limited to a one-time-only amount of $1,000. The procedure for obtaining research overhead awards for thesis research is:

  1. Exhaust all other potential sources of funding (be able to document this)

  2. A student should have established a committee and have defended a thesis proposal before applying for research overhead support (students who have not defend a proposal are often at a competitive disadvantage as compared with those who submit a reviewed and defended proposal)

  3. Prepare a proposal to be submitted to the Chair of the GARC. This proposal should describe the proposed research in no more than seven pages and include a detailed budget. Items requested in the budget may include research equipment and supplies. Travel is funded only for getting to and from a field research site, and excessive charges will be denied. No salaries of any type will be paid. Funding will be considered only for thesis research-related expenses requested before the costs are incurred.

Four (4) Copies of the proposal should be submitted to the Chair of the GARC along with a cover letter from your advisor indicating: strength of his/her support for the project, what efforts have been made to secure funding elsewhere, status of thesis or dissertation proposal. Generally the applicant will be notified of the action taken by the GARC within two weeks.

Travel Funding for Students

Each graduate student in good standing with the department is eligible to apply for up to $400 in support of travel to a major meeting where he/she is presenting a paper/poster as senior author. The basis of the paper must be research accomplished during the student's tenure as a graduate student in the department. This allotment is a one-time, nonrenewable award for each degree (you get one $400 award per degree during your graduate lifetime). Request guidelines are as follows:

  1. A letter requesting authorization to expend funds must be submitted to the Chair of the GARC at least 30 days prior to the time of travel

  2. The letter should specify the title and authorship of the paper and itemization of the anticipated expenses and should contain the student's major advisor's signature.

Moore Research Awards

Moore Research Awards are merit-based prizes for proposals from graduate students that must be submitted in the spring. The GARC ranks the proposals in a competitive fashion. Proposals should be less than 7 pages in length (See guidelines) and requested funding should not exceed $1,500 (MS students) or $2,500 (Ph.D. students). In general, only one M.S. and one Ph.D. award will be given each year, although availability of funds in some years may permit offering additional prizes. Like the mini-grants described above, salaries will not be paid, but most other expenses are allowed (Note: Requests for funding for travel to scientific meetings is strongly discouraged). This award is not related to the mini-grants, and it is possible for a student to receive funding from both sources. The deadline for proposal submission is announced in the Spring and the recipients of the awards are announced at the annual Department Awards Ceremony which takes place at the end of the second semester.

Bannon and Odum Foundation Grants

In recent years the Bannon Foundation and the Odum Foundation have supported small grants for student research in the Department. The Bannon Award is limited to research involving coastal systems. The Odum Foundation award is unrestricted, but preference is given to excellent applications for work in the coastal zone. Applications for these awards are similar to those for the Moore Awards. The GARC may determine that applications for the Moore Awards above qualify instead for either the Bannon or Odum Grants.

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