NCB Graduate Student Scholarship

This $500 scholarship recognizes graduate student members of the North Central Branch (NCB) of the Entomological Society of America for their course work and research culminating in scholarship. The award recipient will be recognized at the NCB ESA meeting and will receive the cash award at the awards function. The recipient will be recognized in the program booklet. Self-nominations are welcomed.

Eligibility
Nomination Requirements
Evaluation Criteria
Submission Requirements
Previous Winners
Deadline
Submit a Nomination


Eligibility

Candidates must currently be researching an entomological problem at a recognized graduate institution in the North Central Branch region. Candidates must have an overall graduate grade average equivalent to 3.0 or higher on a 4.0 grading scale, and must be current members of the North Central Branch of the ESA. Self-nominations are permitted.


Nomination Requirements

Nomination packages should include the following: 

  1. Curriculum vitae. There is no page limit, but the document should include: 
    a)    Publications. Limited to published or in-press submissions and must provide complete citation. 
    b)    Presentations. Indicate the scope of the presentation (local, regional, national, or international) and whether the presentation was invited or submitted.
    c)    Fellowships and awards. When appropriate, indicate the scope of the award (departmental, university, local, regional, national, international, etc.) 
    d)    Service. Highlight any university or other professional service, briefly indicating the nominee’s role in that service.
    e)    Outreach, extension, and scientific communication. For these activities, please indicate the nominee’s role. Feel free to highlight any efforts related to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in this section.
    f)    Involvement in professional societies. Describe engagement in ESA or other professional societies, including volunteering, serving on committees, etc.
    g)    Professional development. Highlight any relevant certifications, workshops attended, graduate-level courses, etc. 
    h)    G.P.A. from both undergraduate and graduate coursework
    i)    Proficiency in fields outside entomology. Highlight fluency in other languages, skills in other disciplines, etc. 
    j)    Collaboration. Highlight any mentoring activities, participation in collaborative 
  2. A cover letter detailing the nominee's research, including any collaborations, advising or work on interdisciplinary teams.  This is an opportunity to connect the nominee’s vitae to the research and interests of the nominee.  (strictly limited to 2 pages double spaced);research teams, interdisciplinary work, etc.
  3. Letter of support for candidacy from one (1) professional reference, such as the nominee’s PhD or MS advisor. Letters can be provided to the nominator directly, or in the case of self-nominations, the nominee can request reference letters via the award submission site.  Once the support letter is submitted online by the letter writer, the nominee will not be able to see the content of the letter. Please limit letters of support to two pages and be sure to address the evaluation criteria (see below) in the letter.

Evaluation Criteria

Nominees will be judged using the following criteria for a total of 100 points:

  • Research (25 points)
    • Papers (number and quality of journals) (10)
    • Presentations (number, national/international, invited) (10)
    • Fellowships and other awards (5)
  • Service (30 points)
    • University service  (10)
    • Outreach, extension, and scientific communication (15)
    • Involvement in professional societies (5)
  • Academic performance (20 points)
    • Course work (credits and advanced classes) (10)
    • GPA (PhD, MS, BS) (5)
    • Proficiency in field other than Entomology (other language, other field) (5)
  • Application materials (20 points)
    • Letters of recommendation (5)
    • Personal statement - Description of research (10)
    • Collaboration (advising other students, interdisciplinary teams) (5)
  • Overall Evaluation (5 points)
    • Overall achievements (how balanced are all activities) (5)

Submission Requirements

With the exception of reference letters, all nomination packages must be submitted electronically according to the following specifications (paper nominations will not be accepted).  Nomination packages will be submitted through the award submission site.

  • 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 11 point.
  • The maximum upload size is 2 MB per file.

Deadline

Nomination packages must be submitted online via the award submission site by December 15th annually at 11:59 EST.  This deadline refers to receipt by the awards administrator of a complete package in a readable format.

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