Lillian and Alex Feir Graduate Student Travel Award in Insect Physiology, Biochemistry, or Molecular Biology

The purpose of this Entomological Foundation award is to encourage graduate students working with insects or other arthropods in the broad areas of physiology, biochemistry, and molecular biology to affiliate with ESA's Section B and to attend the ESA Annual Meeting or an International Congress of Entomology. This award was established by Dorothy Feir, 1989 president of ESA, as a tribute to her parents who, at considerable self-sacrifice, encouraged education and travel experience for their daughters. This travel award includes a cash prize, based on earnings from the investment, and a certificate, which are presented at the ESA Annual Meeting. The winner also will be presented to Section B at the meeting he or she attends.

Eligibility

All students using arthropods to study any aspect of basic or applied physiology, biochemistry, or molecular biology in the broadest sense for their Master's or doctoral research are eligible to apply. Students from all science departments are encouraged to apply. The applicant does not have to present a paper in order to receive the award. A student may reapply but preference will be given to a student who has not received the award previously. The winner must be an ESA student member at the time he/she applies for this award.

Previous Winner

Please click here to see a list of those who have previously received this award.

Electronic Submission Requirements

All nomination packages must be submitted electronically according to the following specifications (paper nominations will not be accepted):

Page Limits

• The entire nomination package must not exceed 20 pages total. This includes letters of nomination or recommendation and publication lists.

• Letters of nomination and recommendation must be included in the electronic package. Printed letters sent in lieu of electronic versions will not be accepted.

File Specifications

• Only the following file formats will be accepted: PDF (Adobe Portable Document Format), RTF (Rich Text Format), TIF graphic files, or JPG graphic files. Files created on either PC or MAC platforms will be accepted. Please make sure scanned images can be clearly read on a computer screen.

• Font size for text may not be smaller than 10 point.

• A nomination package may contain no more than 6 separate files, and the size of each file must not exceed 3 MB.

Submission Methods

Nomination packages may be submitted by either of two methods:

• PREFERRED METHOD: Submit online via the Nomination Submission Website. This method eliminates problems associated with e-mailing large files. Nominators are strongly encouraged to use this method.
  OR

• E-mail the nomination package as attached files to the awards administrator. In the submission e-mail, please include the title of the award in the subject of the e-mail. In the body of the e-mail, provide the name of the nominee, the nominator's contact information, and a list of the attached files.

Nomination Requirements

Nominations may be made by anyone. Nomination packages for this award must include:

CV-Related Items

Nominators must provide the information called for in the CV template, either in the template's format or in their own format. To view the CV-related nomination requirements for this award, as well as the CV template, please click here.

Other Items

1. Letter of nomination that provides a brief explanation of how the individual excelled in performing his/her duties, including innovations in training, programs, and methods

2. Up to three letters of endorsement from professional colleagues and clientele

3. Topic or areas of thesis research

4. Official or unofficial transcripts of all prior undergraduate and graduate education (mail to: Entomological Foundation, 9332 Annapolis Road, Suite 210, Lanham, MD 20706)

5. Reasons for attending the meeting

6. Budget to attending the meeting

Evaluation Criteria

Nominees/candidates will be judged using the following criteria for a total of 50 points:

1. Enthusiasm and interest in attending the meeting (10)

2. Academic credentials (GPA and the number of credits completed) (10)

3. Reasonable budget to attend meeting (10)

4. Topic or areas of thesis research (10)

5. Recommendations from colleagues, peer groups, etc. (10) 

Deadline

Application/nomination packages must be received by the awards administrator by July 1. This deadline refers to receipt of a complete package in a readable format. Therefore, early submission is highly recommended. The awards administrator will confirm receipt of nomination packages within two business days, and also notify nominators of any problems with nomination package files within that time.

Renomination

Any candidate nominated, but not selected, may be renominated no more than two times within the two-year period after his/her initial submission. Renomination packages will be retained for two years by the awards administrator. Nominators must send a letter of renomination to the awards administrator by the award deadline above. Previously submitted documentation will be used for the evaluation process unless the nominator submits new or updated documents. The renomination e-mail must contain this additional documentation. New or updated documents must follow the electronic submission requirements noted above.

Notification

The awards administrator will notify all candidates and their nominators, where applicable, with the results of their application approximately two months after the application/nomination submission deadline.

For questions about this award, please click here.