Honors

Strand 1 - Conference Support for the Physics Education Community

This strand supports the proposer’s commitments to a conference to share physics education research findings with the physics community (e.g., travel, registration costs, workshop costs, poster printing, etc.). All conferences will be considered; however, the APS April conference will be prioritized. Conference support grants are capped at $1000 in this strand. Preference will be given to GPER members who have limited conference resources, e.g., students without grant funding, faculty at two-year colleges and/or minority-serving institutions, adjunct faculty, etc.

Total funding available: $3,000

Typical award amount: $1,000

What information is needed?

To facilitate making award decisions, we ask that Strand 1 proposals include the following:

  • A maximum 4 page CV.

    • For students and postdocs, please provide an advisor’s name and affiliation.

    • Include information about any past professional presentations and the type of presentation (e.g., presentations of your research versus other kinds of presentations like career panels, general talks not about your research, etc.).

    • Include information about any confirmed upcoming conference attendance (e.g., accepted presentations for conferences that you have funds to travel to).

  • A 1-2 page statement of purpose. This includes:

    • Relevance: How will the funds be used to advance GPER’s mission?

      • If the funds will be used for a presentation, include the title and authors for the presentation, the conference / meeting for the presentation, and whether the presentation is invited or contributed.

      • If the funds will be used to share findings in other ways, such as facilitating a workshop, explain this.

      • Describe why your presentation / workshop is relevant and beneficial to the physics and/or physics education research community.

    • Impact: Why is this opportunity important to you in your career?

      • State as specifically as possible how this funding will directly benefit you, including a description of your current career stage and how it is relevant to your long-term career goals.

    • Financial Need: What is the nature of your financial need?

      • State the Carnegie Classification of your institution (you can look this up here: ) and provide any other information about institutional resources that you’d like to share.

      • Describe funding opportunities available to you in your department, your institution, or more broadly and whether those could fully fund your travel.

      • Provide a budget and justification: In your proposal, you should explain how you would use $1000 of funding to support your conference travel.

        • Expenses will likely included conference registration, lodging, and transportation, and may include per diem, membership fees, childcare costs, appropriate conference apparel, and other similar expenses.

        • If registration, lodging, and transportation are not included, please explain how they will be paid for.

        • The justification can exceed $1000 to demonstrate need. However, awardees will be limited to a maximum reimbursement of $1000.

        • If you anticipate needing less than $1000, you may provide an alternative budget. The amount you request will help us to budget appropriately, but will not influence your likelihood of receiving an award.

  • Your conference abstract, to be shared through the GPER newsletter/website if your travel is funded.

Who is eligible?

Any member of GPER who is seeking to share the results of physics education research and has not received a GPER conference award within the last three years is eligible.

What criteria will be used during application review?

  • Applications will be assessed on three main criteria: relevance, impact, and financial need.

    • Relevance:

      • The conference activity will advance the mission of GPER and/or APS, specifically the advancement and diffusion of knowledge concerning the learning and teaching of physics.

      • Travel to the APS April Meeting is prioritized because of GPER’s presence at that meeting. The APS March Meeting and AAPT/PERC are also considered favorably. Other conferences may be considered.

    • Impact:

      • Meeting attendance would provide a significant benefit to you in your career. It is expected that students, postdocs, and other early career researchers will typically experience the greatest benefit.

      • Meeting attendance would provide an opportunity to significantly expand your professional network. It is expected that applicants who have attended few PER-related conferences in the past will typically experience the greatest benefit.

    • Financial need:

      • Your institution has limited funding / resources (based on institution type and any other information received).

      • You lack access to alternative funding sources that would fully fund your travel and provide necessary budget justification.

Instructions for Proposals

  • The application form is available here.

  • Proposals are due by 11:59 PM Pacific time on November 15 of the current calendar year. Funding decisions will be shared by early December.

  • CV, statement of purpose, and conference abstract must be uploaded in one PDF file.

  • PDF files should be titled: “GPER_Conference_Support_[last name].PDF”

Review Process

The Mini-Grant Chair receives all applications, checks them for compliance with the RFP. The Mini-Grant Sub-Committee members read all applications and rank them in a shared spreadsheet, then meet as a committee to come to consensus on a recommendation for how to apportion funds. The recommendation is presented to the Executive Committee as a whole for their approval. The Mini-Grant Chair notifies all applicants of the outcomes. Please note that all current and future GPER Executive Committee members will have access to applications.

Reporting Requirements

For conference awards (Strand 1), awardees are required to submit receipts and a reimbursement form to the GPER Secretary/Treasurer. They are also required to submit a one-page activities report to the GPER senior member-at-large on the completion of the funded activities and send it to gper-mini-grants@aps.org. This report will be reviewed by the GPER Executive Committee.

Spending of all funds should normally be completed within one year after the approval of the proposal; extensions should be requested in writing to gper-mini-grants@aps.org no less than three months before the normal deadline.

Accounting and Tax Information

All grants will be approved by the Secretary/Treasurer of GPER before proceeding with the payments. Because conference grants are to support expenses such as travel and registration costs, submission of receipts will be required prior to reimbursement of funds. Each recipient will be required to submit either a completed W-9 or W-8BEN. The W-8BEN is a certification to APS that a foreign person is not subject to U.S. taxation. Reimbursements are not subject to taxation.