APS-Simons Travel and Professional Development Awards
Collaboration is the lifeblood of science and travel is often critical to the formation of successful partnerships. As we work to build a more equitable and inclusive environment for physics, we must ensure that opportunities for collaboration and meeting participation are broadly available.
An analysis of APS Meetings data shows that students and faculty from primarily undergraduate and minority-serving institutions (MSIs) generally have fewer travel opportunities. This discrepancy is attributed to limited resources, with disparities observed in professional development funds for faculty in non-doctorate-granting academic departments and those not in tenure-track positions. The APS-Simons Travel and Professional Development Awards are designed to fill the gap by offering travel support and professional development funding to those affected by these inequities.
Description
This program provides awards of $8,400 to faculty members who would otherwise have limited access to travel and professional development support. Funds may be used for the faculty/instructional staff member (awardee), their students, or their post-doctoral researchers to support research collaborations or participate in professional development activities. Funds will be administered as an award to the awardee’s department. Funds apply to future activities. Award funds must be used within one year of receipt.
Rules and eligibility
Awards will be directed toward full-time US-based or international physics faculty or instructional staff in non-doctorate-granting physics departments, physics faculty or instructional staff at MSIs, and physics faculty or instructional staff who are not currently in tenure-track positions (e.g., lecturer, lab manager, etc). Applicants must not have any major funding that includes travel awards at the time of submission. Applicants do not need to be APS members to apply.
Process and selection
Selection criteria
Proposals must be:
- Relevant: Demonstrate a need for supplemental travel funding.
- Impactful: Articulate clear and transformative career, research or teaching objectives, including a forward-looking plan for advancing the discipline of physics, physics education, or physics inclusivity.
- Feasible: Describe a realistic travel plan that can include a single high-impact collaboration opportunity in research or teaching, or can consist of one or several travel opportunities that will clearly advance the proposer’s stated goals.
What makes a strong proposal?
Please consider the following when submitting your proposal:
- Need: Demonstrates need for supplemental travel funding
- Impact: Clear and transformative career, research, or teaching objectives, including a forward-looking plan for advancing the discipline of physics, physics education, or physics inclusivity
- Feasibility: Realistic travel plan for the upcoming year that can include a single, high-impact collaboration opportunity in research or teaching or can consist of several travel opportunities that clearly advance the applicant's stated goals
Scope
Applications will be prioritized based on:
- Demonstrated need for supplemental travel funding.
- Clear and transformative career, research or teaching objectives, including a forward-looking plan for advancing the discipline of physics, physics education, or physics inclusivity.
- Realistic travel plan for the upcoming year that can include a single high-impact collaboration opportunity in research/teaching, or can consist of several travel opportunities that clearly advance the applicant's stated goals.
Click here for a 1-pager of what makes a strong proposal.
Application requirements
The application will consist of a template describing:
- The applicant's professional CV or resume.
- The proposed travel to be supported by the funds. At least one of the trips proposed by the applicant should include inclusive professional development activities, such as attending a workshop or conferences focused on diversity and inclusion within physics. Award funds may be used for the faculty or instructional staff member (awardee), their students, or their post-doctoral researchers.
- Full-time faculty members and instructional staff from colleges and universities, whether based in the U.S. or internationally, and regardless of affiliation with 4-year or 2-year institutions, are welcome to apply.
Note:
- Applicants must provide a one-page letter of support from an advisor or department chair.
- Should the applicant’s home institution require overhead, up to 10% of the budget may be allocated as such.
- Successful applicants will receive a free one-year APS membership.
- Applicants will receive award decisions approximately 8 weeks after submitting their applications.
Reporting requirements
Awardees will be expected to submit a brief summary of their activities two years after the award is awarded, including a description of the award’s impact on their career and on the educational and career preparation of their students. Where possible, reports should include visuals for future marketing and impact assessments.
Deadlines
The application is now open. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis.
Contact
If you have questions, please email the APS-Simons Travel and Professional Development Awards team.
Looking for programs that support you and your students’ physicist journey? Learn more about the many APS programs and resources to help you build a thriving physics career.
Establishment and support
This award has been established as a collaboration between the APS Innovation Fund and the Simons Foundation.
The membership of APS is diverse and global, and the nominees and recipients of APS Honors should reflect that diversity so that all are recognized for their impact on our community. Nominations of members belonging to groups traditionally underrepresented in physics, such as women, LGBT+ scientists, scientists who are Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC), disabled scientists, scientists from institutions with limited resources, and scientists from outside the United States, are especially encouraged.
Nominees for and holders of APS Honors (prizes, awards, and fellowship) and official leadership positions are expected to meet standards of professional conduct and integrity as described in the APS Ethics Guidelines. Violations of these standards may disqualify people from consideration or lead to revocation of honors or removal from office.