Awards for Grad Students to Attend 2013 Nobel Laureates Meeting in Germany

Interested in spending a week with Nobel Laureates from around the world?  The Department of Energy, the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation and MARS, Inc. will each sponsor a select number of graduate students from across the country to attend the 2013 Annual Meeting of Nobel Laureates in Lindau, Germany, from June 30 through July 5, 2013. Transportation, lodging, and registration expenses will all be covered by the award. The 2013 meeting will focus on chemistry; therefore, all eligible students pursuing chemistry-related research are invited to apply.

Eligibility:  To be eligible, applicants must:

-- be a US citizen

-- have completed at least two years of graduate study toward a doctoral degree in chemistry or related discipline, but not be planning a dissertation defense before Dec 31, 2013

-- for consideration by DOE, NIH or NSF, the applicant must be supported by the organization whose sponsorship will be requested (for example, to apply for NSF sponsorship, the applicant must be supported currently by NSF funds from a fellowship or a faculty member's grant.)

--  for consideration by MARS, Inc., the applicant must be pursuing a PhD in physics

The University of Illinois can nominate up to two students for consideration by each sponsor, for a total of eight nominations.

Selection:  The selection process occurs in three phases. In Phase 1, the University selects its eight nominees and forwards their application packages to their respective sponsors. In Phase 2, the sponsors each select finalists. In Phase 3, a Lindau Nobel review committee chooses up to 56 winners from among the finalists.

Last year, the Physics Department's own William McGehee was selected and attended the meeting!
 

Application Process:   Students submit applications directly to the Graduate College. To apply, students must submit the following:

--  two-page resume

--  one-page essay describing why participation in the Lindau meeting is important for the applicant's graduate education

-- one-page letter of reference from the advisor. If the student is requesting sponsorship by DOE, NIH or NSF, the advisor's letter must state the agency, grant number, and title of project currently supporting the student.

All application materials must be in pdf form and emailed to gradfellowships@illinois.edu by 4:00 p.m. on December 7, 2012. Late or incomplete applications will not be accepted. A Graduate College review panel will evaluate applications and choose the University's eight nominees.

If you have questions about this award or process, feel free to contact Ken Vickery in the Graduate College Fellowship Office.