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 Global Physics Summit will be prioritized. Conference support grants are capped at $1,000 for domestic travel and $1,500 for international travel. 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. 

Typical award amount per awardee: $500 - $1,000 for domestic travel, $1,000 - $1,500 for international travel

What information is needed?

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

  • Are you a GPER Member? Required.

  • Have you received GPER Mini-Grant travel support in the last three years?

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

    • Advisor’s Name:

    • Affiliation:

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

  • Confirm upcoming conference attendance (e.g., accepted presentations for conferences that you have funds to travel to).

  • If presenting a talk or poster, provide the title, authors, abstract, 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 education research community.

  • 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.

  • Describe the nature of your financial need, including any other opportunities that are available to you. Please also explain the level of research support in your department/institution and any other relevant information about available resources. For U.S. institutions, state the Carnegie Classification of your institution (you can look this up here: https://carnegieclassifications.acenet.edu), if possible.

  • Provide a brief budget and justification: You should explain how you would use the funding to support your conference travel. 

    • Expenses will likely include conference registration, lodging, and transportation, and may include per diem, membership fees, childcare costs, visa processing fees, 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 the maximum award amount to demonstrate need. However, awardees will be limited to a maximum reimbursement of $1,000 for domestic travel and $1,500 for international travel.

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 Global Physics Summit is prioritized because of GPER’s presence at that meeting. 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 on the APS application platform. Please select GPER from the initial dropdown and then the Conference Support for the Physics Education Community selection on the secondary dropdown.  

  • Proposals are due by 11:59 PM Eastern time on Oct 1 of the current calendar year. Funding decisions will be shared by early November.

Review Process

The Mini-Grant Chair receives all applications and 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 APS Honors Team, as well as their banking and tax forms to Payable Units. 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.