GRANTS-IN-AID OF RESEARCH

Grants-in-Aid of Research awards are made by the Phycological Society of America in support of graduate and postdoctoral research in any area of phycology. Grants are intended to enable the awardee to accomplish work not otherwise possible.

In 1987, the Phycological Society of America (PSA) established the Grants-in-Aid of Research Program (GIAR). This program is designed to aid graduate students conducting research in phycology by making grants to defray research expenses. In 2016, support for postdoctoral researchers was added to the GIAR program. Funds to support these grants come from interest generated by the Education Fund of the PSA Endowment.

Eligibility: Applicants must be a graduate student or postdoctoral researcher with an active research program in any area of phycology. The applicant must be a current member of PSA. Deadline is November 1, annually. In the course of a student's graduate education or postdoctoral positions, no more than two grants in aid of research will be awarded.

Awards: At least $17,500 is available each year for supporting graduate student and postdoctoral research. The average award in recent years has been approximately $1,200, with a success rate of approximately 50% for graduate student applicants and 25% for postdoctoral applicants. A maximum of three postdoctoral awards will be given each year with only one award exceeding $2,500; the maximum award for a postdoctoral researcher is $5,000. There is no limit on the number of graduate students receiving awards, but the maximum award will be $2,000. Awards are generally made directly to the selected applicants or to a fund-dispersing unit at the awardee's institution. No part of the award may be used to pay indirect costs to the applicant's institution, or to pay stipends. Travel to the annual PSA meeting should be requested from the Hoshaw Student Travel Award program; although not encouraged, application for funds to other phycological meetings will be considered. However, funding will not be made available for non-phycological meetings. Tuition and expenses for taking critical techniques courses not available at the home institution are eligible for funding. However, applicants interested in securing expenses for courses based at field research stations should instead apply to the Croasdale Fellowship.

Evaluation and Selection: Applications received outside the Jotform Portal will not be considered. Selection of recipients will be based primarily on the applicant's research proposal and two supporting letters. More specifically, rubric criteria used by the committee include: 1) Merit and impact of the research, 2) Clarity of the research question and experimental design, 3) Academic record and likelihood of success in completing the project, 4) Support from letters of recommendation, and 5) Reasonability of the budget and its justification.

Application Procedure: To be eligible for consideration, submit one (1) application via the Jotform Portal along with two letters of recommendation, submitted separately, which must be received on or before November 1st. The curriculum vitae must include papers presented at meetings, publications, and grants and fellowships received but must be a maximum of two (2) pages. In addition, the applicant must request two letters of recommendation: one should be from their major professor/mentor and the other should be from someone who can comment on the applicant’s research and experience (for example, another member of the thesis committee). These letters must be submitted directly from the letter writers to ensure confidentiality. Letters of Recommendation should be submitted as pdf documents, and saved in a file named "Lastname_applicant-GIAR2024-Letter_writer_lastname.pdf". This portal will send a reminder to your recommenders requesting the letters on your behalf upon final submission but you must confirm their agreement to submit such a letter before submitting your application to ensure the letters are received by the deadline. Confirmation your application is complete with two letters of recommendation will be provided to you via email from the Grants Committee chair.

Guidance for letter writers: Please address the following in your letter:

·       Capacity and extent to which you know the applicant

·       Additional information the committee should consider in regard to the application, which could include:

  • Impact of the applicants research both in a phycological and broader context

  • The applicant’s long-term potential and/or exemplary commitment to contributing to the field of phycology, including phycological education, industry, and scholarship

  • The applicant’s ability to overcome challenges

  • Applicable evidence of service to PSA or phycology at large

Application Portal: This portal has a save function, allowing you to make edits over time without officially submitting the final version. Once saved, you will receive a link via email to be able to revisit your application at a later time. Please only submit your application once, as multiple submissions will trigger multiple requests from your recommenders to submit letters on your behalf.

Successfully Funded Students and Postdoctoral Researchers: Awardees will be required to complete the PSA Awardee Report within one year of the award announcement. Awardees are also required to acknowledge PSA and GIAR Program in any research products, including but not limited to publications and presentations. Failure to complete the report within a year of the award and properly acknowledge the society could affect future eligibility for funding.

Applications and questions should be directed to the current Committee Chair, Rachael Wade, rmw104@humboldt.edu.