Student Travel & Presentation Awards
Deadline: 15 February 2009
Numerous student awards are available, including:
Student Travel Awards
Travel awards are available to help defray the cost of attending the COS annual meeting. Applicants must be COS members, and must present an oral or poster presentation for which they are the sole or lead author at the meeting (although they need not enter the student paper competition). Award amounts vary depending on transportation costs and the number of students applying. Typically, travel awards cover only part of the travel expenses, and do not cover meals, lodging or registration fees.
NEW! Young Professional Award
The Young Professional Student Presentation Award recognizes early-career ornithological researchers for their outstanding contributions to ornithology. Please see the Young Professional Awards page for more information.
Frances F. Roberts Award
The Frances F. Roberts Award is given for an outstanding paper presented at the annual meeting. This award comes with a cash award, one year paid membership in COS, and a book on some ornithological topic. Mrs. Roberts was a well known bird photographer and prominent member of the COS during the 1940s to1960s.
Board of Directors Awards
Up to two awards are given annually by the board to those students who present worthy papers or posters at the annual meeting and who do not win either the Frances F. Roberts Award or the Young Professional Award. These awards come with a cash award, one year paid membership in COS, and a book on some ornithological topic.
Award Application Procedures
Application deadline is 15 February; late applications will not be accepted. In addition to the award application materials described below, students also must submit standard abstract materials to the Program Coordinator to receive a place on the program. Submit only ONE student/young professional award application. Indicate on the cover sheet whether you are applying for a travel award, presentation award, or both. (See application instructions below.) To apply for either type of award, submit the following items via email (as a single .pdf attachment) to Barbara Kus (barbara_kus@usgs.gov):
- Completed cover sheet (Microsoft Word Doc, 32kb)
- One-page curriculum vitae, including information on COS membership.
- An expanded abstract (double-spaced with 12-point font, 3-page maximum including any references, tables, and figures). The expanded abstract should state objectives, methods, major results, and scientific significance.
- A brief e-mail (one to three sentences) from the academic advisor stating that the applicant is a student in good academic standing.
- Students also must submit standard abstracts to the Program Committee Chair to receive a place on the program. (See conference web site for details.)
Applicants for Young Professional Award:
- Submit items 1, 4, and 5 above.
- Instead of item 2, submit a two-page curriculum vitae.
- Instead of item 3, submit amini-paper following the guidelines of paper submission outlined in Nature. (Click here for guidelines: http://www.nature.com/nature/authors/gta/#a1.2). Body of text (abstract through discussion) should not exceed 1500 words; literature cited, tables, figures, and figure captions are not included in the word count, but figures and tables are limited to four total (figures plus tables) elements.
Questions may be directed to Barbara Kus (barbara_kus@usgs.gov) or Rolf Koford (rkoford@iastate.edu)
Eligibility:
- Full-time undergraduate and graduate students are eligible.
- Students graduating within one year since the previous COS annual meeting are eligible.
- Applicants for the Young Professional Award must be in their final year of graduate studies or have graduated within one year of the previous annual meeting
- Undergraduates are encouraged to participate.
- Both oral presentations and poster presentations are eligible for these awards.
- The applicant must be the sole or lead author and must also present the poster or oral paper.
- Applicants for student presentation awards must be members of COS. Students who are not currently members are encouraged to join to become eligible for student awards. Check the COS web site at http://www.cooper.org/membership/membership.htm#benies for information about student memberships. COS offers reduced-rate memberships for students and some no-cost memberships may be available.
Restrictions:
- Students presenting in symposia are ineligible for presentation awards.
- Travel awards are issued only after the Scientific Program Committee has accepted the paper.
- Travel awards have a limit of two per person over their career.
- Frances F. Roberts and Board of Directors awards have a limit of one per person.
- The Young Professional Award has a limit of one per person.
Award criteria:
- Travel applications will be judged based on quality of research/abstract and also standing of student (e.g., whether nearing graduation or not).
- Presentation awards will be made based on quality of research, abstract, and presentation, and preference will be given to students in the final phases of completing their research as opposed to those presenting preliminary findings.
- Students are encouraged to consult the tips for effective presentation. (coming soon)