AMS 2024 Student TRAVEL & Presentation awards

Student Travel Awards

The American Malacological Society announces student travel grants to help support student participation at our 90^th Annual Meeting in Los Angeles, California, August 4-7, 2024. Grants will be awarded on a competitive basis, and require that the applicant is a member of AMS, and will be presenting their research at the meeting. Applications are due by April 30, 2024. Travel grant awards will be announced in early May; award size will depend on the number of awardees.

To be considered for a travel grant award, an applicant must:

1.  Be a student at, or have graduated from, a degree-granting program within six months immediately prior to the meeting’s registration deadline;
2.  Be a current member of the American Malacological Society (you can join here);
3.  Have already submitted an abstract to present at the meeting.

Applications must be received by AMS's Student Awards and Education Committee by April 30^th and include the following components:

1. The submitted abstract of the presentation you are planning to give at AMS 2024.
2. A brief (no more than one page) statement of your research goals and how your planned presentation at AMS 2024 will help you realize those goals.
3. Your current CV.
4. A brief letter (or email message) from your advisor stating your enrollment status, individual contributions of authors in the case of multi-authored presentations, and how attending this meeting will contribute to your academic progress.

All application materials must be sent via email to the chair of the Student Awards and Education Committee, Tom Duda. Applicants should attach a single electronic file (Word document or pdf) containing the first three items listed above. The letter must be received directly from the letter writer via email.

Awards for Student Presentations

Every year the American Malacological Society hosts a competition for the best student oral and poster presentations made at the Society’s annual meeting. Winners receive the Constance Boone award (https://ams.wildapricot.org/Presentation-Award).

To be eligible, students must have graduated from a degree-granting program (or high school) within the six months immediately prior to the meeting’s registration deadline. To be considered for the award, students must also indicate their desire to be judged when registering and submitting their abstract.

Posters and oral presentations will be evaluated based on the following criteria:

• Context (e.g., provides background/motivation for the study)
• Originality and Approach (e.g., presents original hypotheses/ideas and appropriate methodologies)
• Completeness (e.g., utilizes sufficient sample sizes and analyses for making inferences from results)
• Depth of knowledge (e.g., frames results in a broader context)
• Performance (e.g., materials presented are clear and well explained, visuals engage the audience, good design of slides/poster, addresses questions well)