The University Research Board (URB) is pleased to announce the initiation of a new graduate student conference award for this academic year (2023-24) in collaboration with the Graduate Council to promote the research productivity of graduate students and presenting it at annual meetings, society or flagship conferences, or other relevant professional meetings.
The URB will award annually up to ten awards to graduate students who demonstrated excellence in their thesis research work worthy of presenting at national, regional or international conference/meeting. The recipient will receive up to $2,000 for travel cost and conference registration in Europe and MENA region, or $2,500 elsewhere.
All graduate students enrolled in a Master's or PhD program within AUB are eligible to apply only once during their graduate studies. The graduate student must have an active enrollment status as a graduate student at the time of the conference/meeting.
Applications should be completed and emailed to the
URBGradAward at least 6 weeks before the conference/meeting date and will be reviewed on a monthly basis.
Eligibility, reviewing and award granting will be handled by the URB committee.
Guidelines:
Purpose
- To provide students with the opportunity to present their research in high quality international venues and to interact with experts in their field beyond AUB
- To promote the research productivity of graduate students and the principal advisor.
Eligibility
- All graduate students enrolled in a Master's or PhD1 program within AUB are eligible to apply.
- Students must be enrolled as a graduate student at the time of the conference.
- Students can apply for any virtual or in-person regional, national, or international professional meeting if giving an oral or poster presentation about their own research.
- There is no limit on the number of graduate students from a certain professor's research group who may apply.
- The student's supervisor must endorse the application before submission to the URB.
- An enrolled graduate student can benefit only once from this award.
Frequency
- One award per student during the student's enrollment in a certain graduate program.
Details of the award
- Students receiving an award will be granted up to $2,000 for Europe and MENA region, or $2,500 elsewhere, towards costs including conference registration and, if applicable, transportation, hotel, VISA expenses and poster printing. Any extra expenses must be covered from other sources.
- If any conference expenses are covered by the conference organizers or through another grant, duplicate funding cannot be provided by the URB.
- A maximum of ten awards per year will be granted
Application submission process
- The student should complete the
required application and secure his/her advisor's signature.
- The required material to accompany the application include: an intent letter, an abstract/paper of the presented work, proof of submission and acceptance, quotes of expenses to be incurred (for conference registration, flights, accommodation, etc. where applicable).
- The application should be completed and emailed to the URB (urbgradaward@aub.edu.lb) at least 6 weeks before the conference date.
- Applications will be
reviewed on a monthly basis.
Review Process
- The URB Committee (or subcommittee thereof) is responsible for the graduate student conference grant program and shall undertake the evaluation process.
- The committee's recommendation will be submitted to the Provost for final approval.
- Upon the final approvals, the respective faculty, chair, Dean, advisor and student will be informed by URB via email.
- In case an award is not granted, the student and advisor will be informed by the URB via email.
Evaluation criteria/evidence
The grant applications will be evaluated on a
competitive basis and subject to the availability of funds:
- The quality of the venue, such as annual meetings, society or flagship conferences, or other relevant professional meetings.
- Compliance with the guidelines and the application procedure.
Post Award Process
- Students who receive an award must submit proof of travel (boarding passes) and conference registration payment within one month of completing the activity to the URB.
- Students should submit a short statement to the URB detailing their conference experience and how it benefitted them.
Please contact the URB at
urbgradaward@aub.edu.lb for any further details.
1)
Only PhD students who could not secure the needed funds from their respective faculty Dean’s office can apply. In case the received amount from the respective Dean’s office is lower than $2,000 for Europe and MENA region, or less than $2,500 elsewhere, the student can apply to receive a supplement from the URB for up to those respective amounts.