GREAT LAKES FISHERY COMMISSION TRAVEL AWARD

Application Procedures for Student Travel Award

Application Deadline: May 7, 2008

Send application to: Science Director, ATTN: Travel Award, Great Lakes Fishery Commission, 2100 Commonwealth Blvd. Suite 100, Ann Arbor, MI 48105 AND electronically to travelaward@glfc.org.

Purpose: The Great Lakes Fishery Commission Travel Award is intended to promote academic excellence by encouraging student scientists to present the results of their graduate research at scientific conferences. The Travel Award is awarded annually to M.Sc. or Ph.D. students whose research is likely to make a significant contribution to the understanding of Great Lakes aquatic ecology and fishery science.

Number and Value of Awards: Two travel awards will be awarded this year. Typically awards are for less than $1500.

Eligibility: Full-time M.Sc. or Ph.D. students whose proposed research topic is relevant to the Great Lakes and who have not previously received the award are eligible.

Application Elements: A complete application is composed of five parts:

a. A Letter of Application (maximum one page) indicating the following:

o name, address, e-mail, and telephone number of applicant;
o degree sought and estimated time to completion;
o number of months enrolled in current program;
o department and/or school;
o name of major professor;
o name, location, and date of scientific conference the student wishes to attend;
o brief description of research;
o relevance of the student’s research project to fishery science and the Great Lakes;
o statement of agreement to comply with terms of reference of the scholarship.

b. A supervising professor's Letter of Endorsement (no more than one-page) containing the following:

o name, address, e-mail, and telephone number of major professor;
o statement of student's stage of progress, and anticipated time to completion of degree;
o endorsement of student's application (one short paragraph).

c. A brief title and extended abstract of the student’s graduate research, including a description of the research he or she intends to present at the conference (no more than 2 single-spaced pages).

d. A statement of how and why the research will make a significant contribution to understanding the biology of Great Lakes fishes or improving Great Lakes fishery management (no more than 1 single-spaced page)

e. A description of how the conference will further the student’s professional development (1 paragraph) and a detailed estimate of the cost of attending the conference (both of these items should be combined onto no more than 1 single-spaced page).

Criteria for Judging: Applications will be evaluated on the basis of scientific merit, contribution to the understanding of Great Lakes fisheries, presentation, originality, and relationship of the student’s research to the conference.

Terms and Conditions of Awards: The Great Lakes Fishery Commission Travel Award will be awarded with the student's prior understanding and acknowledgement
• that an oral presentation of the research will be made at the designated conference; and
• that a précis of the thesis will be submitted to the GLFC upon completion of the research. A suitably revised version may appear on the GLFC web site and may be circulated by the GLFC for publication in newsletters and web sites.

Award winners announced: late-May 2008