The primary purpose of this grant was to provide funding for forty geochemistry students from the U.S. to attend the 2011 Goldschmidt Conference, held in Prague, Czech Republic, on August 14-19, 2011. Since its inception in 1988, the V. M. Goldschmidt Conference has grown in size and prominence to become the most important and largest annual international gathering of geochemists. The Goldschmidt conference is co-sponsored by the Geochemical Society and European Association of Geochemistry and brings together scientists from around the world to share ideas and present cutting edge research. Students attending the conference have the opportunity to learn about this research, and in presenting their own work, can interact closely with and receive important feedback from expert scientists in their respective disciplines. The Goldschmidt travel grant opportunity was advertised via the web, the Geochemical Society Newsletter and Elements magazine. A total of 305 applications were received, of which 78 were eligible for NSF-sponsored travel grant funds. Funds from the Geochemical Society, the Japanese Geochemical Society and the European Association of Geochemistry were used to fund some of the applicants who were ineligible for NSF funds. A panel of nineteen volunteer reviewers, with expertise in both high and low temperature geochemistry was assembled. Each panelist read and reviewed approximately sixty travel grant applications and scored them using a consistent rubric to evaluate the proposed budget, a required letter of recommendation from a faculty mentor, the submitted technical abstract, a short essay to place the work within a larger context and a CV. Each application was reviewed by a team of three reviewers. The forty funded applicants were 50% female and 50% male. Two of the awardees were undergraduate students, five were masters students and the remaining thirty-three were doctoral candidates. Students came from public and private institutions in seventeen states. Each student received $1000 of supplementary travel funding. Although insufficient to cover the full cost of conference attendance (early registration and abstract fees, food/lodging for 5-6 nights and airfare to Prague from the U.S., estimated at $2500-3000 depending on point of origin), the funds did defray a significant portion of attendance costs. Students receiving funds were required to return a survey detailing their experiences at the conference. Students reported that they learned a great deal from the conference, interacted with many peers and professional scientists and were generally inspired to continue their studies and careers in STEM.

Last Modified: 09/11/2012
Modified by: Carla Koretsky