1. Applicant must be currently enrolled as a full time student.
2. Must be presenting a paper or poster at GCFI, and submit an abstract at the time of requesting the award.
3. Student must submit a statement of financial need and an estimated cost of entire trip.
4. Student will submit a short letter to the committee detailing the importance of GCFI to future career goals.
5. The student’s major professor must submit a letter of “certification”, stating the current academic standing of the student, verifying they are full time, and their progress toward their degree. The major professor should also indicate if there is any/partial financial support for the student to attend the meeting. [Rationale—often, a student may be able to “leverage” additional departmental/University monies if they receive a travel award, allowing them to attend the meeting. A statement from the major professor indicating the possibility of supplemental monies will be helpful in the final decision.]
6. A student can only receive 1 travel award/degree (ie, a student could receive an award to present their MS work and their PhD work, but could not receive an award more than once during their MS or PhD tenure)
7. A student can only apply for 1 travel award/year (ie, cannot apply for this award and the Ron Schmeid award in the same year).
8. The student must apply for this award within 1 month of the first call for papers, or by June 1, whichever is later. The Committee will make their decision within 2 months of the first call for papers of by July 1, whichever is later. The student must let the Committee know within 1 month of notification that they have been chosen for the award (or by August 1, whichever is later) that they will attend the meeting. [Note—this time line ensures that there will be enough time to offer a travel award to another student if the “winner” can’t attend.]
9. Students that receive travel awards will be responsible for obtaining visas for travel.
10. Students receiving travel awards are still eligible to compete for the Outstanding Student Achievement award.
11. In the event of a tie in deciding student travel awards, preference will be given to students of long-time/active GCFI members.