IPBGG Opportunities

PBGG Graduate Student & Postdoc Travel Awards

Policy updated 01 June 2023

The IPBGG encourages its graduate students and postdoctoral scientists to gain experience in presenting their work and gaining exposure to other audiences.  Therefore, a student or postdoctoral scientist presenting a paper or poster at a professional conference may apply for a travel award from the Institute to help defray the cost of travel. The guidelines below will be used in considering all travel requests.  Up to 40 requests that meet these guidelines will be honored for requests made before March 15.  After that, fund availability will determine if any additional awards can be made the rest of the fiscal year.

• Applicants must be reporting results of their research and be the primary author of the oral or poster presentation.
• The meeting or conference must be of regional, national, or international importance.  Commodity-specific meetings also qualify.
• Applicants are limited to one travel award per UGA fiscal year (July 1 through June 30).
• Up to $1000 may be requested for domestic and $1500 for international travel.
• The applicant should send a brief paragraph addressed to the Institute Director naming the conference, the presentation to be given, and a breakout of anticipated costs.
  • Accompanying the request should be evidence that the research has been accepted for presentation along with a copy of the abstract to be presented.
  • The recipient must explicitly agree to identify the IPBGG as one of their affiliations, and to display the IPBGG logo in their slides or poster. 
• Graduate students must be PBGG majors and in good standing within the Institute, which includes routine seminar attendance in person and attendance at the previous retreat unless a valid excuse is provided for not having attended.
• Postdocs must have applied for membership in the IPBGG and been admitted, and have attended an annual PBGG retreat within the past 12 months, unless a valid excuse is provided for not having attended
• Please submit travel requests to the IPBGG Administrative Manager, (pbgg@uga.edu) at least one month prior to the beginning of the trip.

Alternatively, PBGG faculty, staff, students, & postdocs may request up to $1000 domestic or $1500 international in funding to help defray the cost of a study visit to another lab.   The goal is to facilitate the acquisition of new training or skills not available on campus, and not the conduct of on-going research.  Applicants should send a brief letter addressed to the Institute Director describing the purpose or goals of the study visit and a breakout of anticipated costs.  Students and postdocs must be in good standing as described above.  

Meeting these criteria is not a guarantee of funding. Funding is contingent on availability of funds in the Institute.  Institute funding may be added to travel assistance from other sources. Funding recipients are strongly encouraged to use these funds to match travel fund requests from the UGA Graduate School.

Competitive Awards

Eligibility

• Ph.D. students from the Institute of Plant Breeding, Genetics and Genomics in good academic standing, whose research involves plant breeding and genetics will be considered. 
• The recipient must have passed the comprehensive exam, have selected a dissertation research project, and submitted a dissertation research proposal at the time of application
• Award: $2,500 scholarship 
• One award will be given annually

Nomination Procedure

• Nominations must initiate from major professors of the Ph.D. students
• Nomination materials must be compiled into a single PDF document in the order listed in the next section and submit electronically to pbgg@uga.edu.
• Nomination deadline: Nov. 1

Required Nomination Materials

• A cover letter from the student describing their interest to be considered for this award
• A 600-word statement by the student describing 1) their dissertation research, 2) how it contributes towards plant cultivar development in the short-term or long-term, 3) how their research projects are relevant to their career goal. 
• Curriculum vitae and graduate school transcripts.
• Two letters of support with one from nominee’s major professor.

Evaluation and Selection Process 

• Nomination packages are reviewed by the IPBGG Steering Committee
• The candidate will be selected based on academic achievement, research accomplishments, and relevance of their dissertation research towards plant breeding and genetics. 
• The top nominee will be forwarded to the Mary Ann Parsons for further dissemination. 

Eligibility

• Ph.D. students from the Institute of Plant Breeding, Genetics and Genomics in good academic standing will be considered. 
• The recipient must have passed the comprehensive exam, have selected a dissertation research project, and submitted a dissertation research proposal at the time of application
• Award: ~ $2,500 scholarship. 
• One award will be given annually as long as a qualified candidate has been identified and funds are available.

Nomination Procedure

• Nominations must initiate from major professors of the Ph.D. students
• Nomination materials must be compiled into a single PDF document in the order listed in the next section and submit electronically to pbgg@uga.edu.
• Nomination deadline: Nov. 1

Required Nomination Materials

• A cover letter from the student describing their interest to be considered for this award
• A 600-word statement by the student describing their dissertation research and explaining how it contributes towards food production, and how their personal objectives in doing graduate work are relevant.
• Curriculum vitae and graduate school transcripts.
• Two letters of support, with one from the nominee’s major professor. 

Evaluation and Selection Process 

• Nomination packages are reviewed by the IPBGG Steering Committee
• The candidate will be selected based on their academic achievement and relevance of their dissertation research towards Feeding the Hungry
• The top nominee will be forwarded to the CAES Dean and Betsy Fowler and Joe Burton, children of Dr. and Mrs. Burton, for confirmation.

Recipients are expected to write thank-you letters to designated family members within 30 days and copy the director of the IPBGG. When the recipients have completed requirements for their Ph.D. degrees, they will give a public lecture describing the research and how it will help feed people. At the lectures, acknowledgement shall be given to the Glenn and Helen Burton Feeding the Hungry Fund in the CAES. The preferred venue will be the IPBGG annual retreat, although other venues are acceptable with approval of the IPBGG director. Acknowledging the Glenn and Helen Burton Feeding the Hungry Fund is also appropriate during exit seminars, talks and posters at meetings, and publications.

Eligibility

• Ph.D. students from the Institute of Plant Breeding, Genetics and Genomics in good academic standing will be considered.
• The recipient must have passed the comprehensive exam, have selected a dissertation research project, and submitted a dissertation research proposal at the time of application
• Award: $2,500 scholarship.
• One award will be given annually as long as a qualified candidate has been identified and funds are available.

Nomination Procedure

• Nominations must initiate from major professors of the Ph.D. students
• Nomination materials must be compiled into a single PDF document in the order listed in the next section and submit electronically to pbgg@uga.edu.
• Nomination deadline: Nov. 1

Required Nomination Materials

• A cover letter from the student describing their interest to be considered for this award
• A 600-word statement by the student describing their 1) personal philosophy on leadership, 2) a description of their leadership activities, and 3) how their leadership activities are relevant to their graduate training and their career goals.
• Curriculum vitae and graduate school transcripts.
• Two letters of support, with one from the nominee’s major professor.

Evaluation and Selection Process

• Nomination packages are reviewed by the IPBGG Steering Committee
• The candidate will be selected based on the nature and extent of their leadership activities, with additional consideration given to their academic achievements.

The recipients are also expected to acknowledge the support of The Peggy Ozias-Akins Leadership in Science Award when they present or publish their dissertation research results.

Eligibility

• Students enrolled in the PBGG Master’s or PhD program
• Postdoctoral fellows must be hosted by a member of IPBGG
• Students must be in good academic standing and have at least 9 months left in their program
• Faculty or research professional must be a member of IPBGG

Application Procedure

• Application materials must be compiled into a single PDF document in the order listed in the next section and submit electronically to pbgg@uga.edu.
• Application deadline: May 30

Required Nomination Materials

Graduate student or postdoctoral; fellow research proposal submissions must include:

• Cover page
• Abstract (250-word limit) 
• Project Description (5-page limit excluding references) that includes the introduction, rationale and significance, research approaches, pitfalls and limitations
• References
• Curriculum vitae (2 pages)
• Budget and Budget Justification
• Supporting letter from the major advisor
• Up to two other supporting letters/document

Faculty or research professional development proposal submissions (2-page limit) must include:

• Aim
• Location
• Host
• Anticipated impact on faculty member’s development of new tools, technologies or approaches that target novel plant breeding approaches to overcome cultivar development challenges
• Budget and Budget Justification
• Other sources of support
• Supporting letter from host

Evaluation and Selection Process 

Proposals will be reviewed by the Award committee formed by the director of the IPBGG, including Dr. John Ingle, as his schedule permits, and may include faculty and students from the IPBGG as well as personnel from UGARF, and other departments/centers/institutes as needed.

Important considerations to the Award committee when evaluating proposals: (1) innovation – highest priority; (2) likelihood of improving plant breeding success at UGA; (3) clarity of proposal; (4) impact of trait or additional training; (5) significance of crop to Georgia.

Budget/award

Total annual funding level for the Award is $20,000, if funds are available after the annual Program meeting, as determined by UGARF. Awards are anticipated to be in the range of $5,000 - $10,000 per funded proposal. At the discretion of the Award committee, it is possible that no proposals may be selected for funding in a given year if no applications are submitted or meet the Focus. Additionally, Awards may provide funding for up to 2 years for a single project. Budgets should not include salary.

Final Report

• Description of how funding was used
• Scientific summary of research project results or skills learned during extended leave/sabbatical (500-word limit)
• Non-technical description of the impact the funding provided, specifically as it relates to the Focus
• Limited to 3 pages