To encourage the dissemination of approaches, outcomes and results emanating from the full suite of BUILDing SCHOLARS Center activities, the Travel Awards Program supports up to nine conference trips per year for BUILDing SCHOLARS PIs, and affiliated faculty members, postdoctoral personnel or graduate research assistants. Up to three conferences per year can also be supported to present research results.
Travel awards are determined based on competitive review of applications from eligible individuals. Each award provides a maximum of $2,000 to cover an individual’s conference travel expenses.
Award applications are reviewed beginning on July 1 of each year. Applications will be reviewed and awarded on a revolving basis thereafter until all funds for each budget year (ending on June 30) are expended.
- Eligible individuals include the following:
- PIs conducting workshops to disseminate BUILDing SCHOLARS approaches and intervention ourcomes
- Faculty leading BUILDing SCHOLARS research-driven courses (RDC) or their graduate research assistant who will present results of their RDC
- Postdoctoral personnel funded by the BUILDing SCHOLARS Center presenting results from their BUILDing SCHOLARS activities
- Travel awards will only be provided to eligible recipients for the purpose of:
- Personally presenting original products flowing directly from BUILDing SCHOLARS research activities at scholarly conferences, meetings, symposia or workshops
- “Original products” from BUILDing SCHOLARS activities must focus on activities directly involving undergraduate research training, including those focused on the following:
- Outcomes of undergraduate research training activities (e.g., effects on student engagement, learning, science identity formation, persistence, career progression, etc.)
- Note: From the BUILDing SCHOLARS perspective, “Biomedical research” may originate from a variety of disciplines including, but not limited to, behavioral sciences, social sciences, life sciences, physical sciences, clinical sciences, math and engineering.
- Outcomes of undergraduate research training activities (e.g., effects on student engagement, learning, science identity formation, persistence, career progression, etc.)
- Recipients will apply their travel award funds in compliance with BUILDing SCHOLARS and UTEP requirements, as well as all rules/spending limitations applicable to federal grants.
- Travel awards may not exceed $2,000 per award. Travel awards are limited to U.S. domestic destinations.
- Applications must be received at least two months prior to the requested travel dates in order to process/review applications and issue awards.
Application form: here
Applications must be submitted as a single PDF file. Applications must be written in 11 point Arial font with 1-inch margins and include the following information:
Required information:
- Name and contact information of the applicant
- Applicant’s affiliation with BUILDing SCHOLARS (for eligibility purposes)
- Abstract submitted to the conference, including title and all authors
- Conference/meeting location and dates
- Evidence of abstract/paper acceptance in the form of a letter/e-mail from the conference organizer.
- Brief statement detailing the benefits to BUILDing SCHOLARS and you by participating in the meeting (other than presenting and discussing your research)
- Letter of support from mentor (if graduate research assistant)
Applications will be recommended for funding based on a two-step review process. The first step will involve internal evaluation of applications in terms of their compliance with all Travel Awards Program requirements. Only applications that meet program requirements will proceed to the second step of the review process. Step two will involve evaluation by the BUILDing SCHOLARS Leadership Team to prioritize applications for funding based on the overall impact of the work.
For questions or more information about the Travel Awards Program for Faculty, contact Dr. Lourdes Echegoyen at lourdes@utep.edu