Greetings!
The College of Engineering is now accepting applications for the TRAvel for CollaborativE Research (TRACER) Grant, a new initiative from the College designed to help establish new research partnerships with world-leading
experts at top institutions. Travel grants up to $7,500 can be used to send senior-level graduate students or postdocs with a promising research trajectory and interest in securing faculty positions to conduct research with new collaborators. The grant facilitates
new research collaborations with world-leading experts at top institutions, thus establishing new collaborations for
the School and broadening the grantee’s mentor/peer network for their future faculty career. The expectation is that a TRACER collaboration will lead to joint publications.
Application Deadline: October 1, 2024, for travel from January 1, 2025, to December 31, 2025.
TRAvel for CollaborativE Research (TRACER) Grant
Up to $7,500 can be requested on a reimbursement basis. Eligible expenses include reasonable transportation, lodging, per diem (only while traveling to/from the host lab and not during the lab stay), etc. Funds
cannot be used for student stipends or salary. These funds cannot be used for research expenses, which are expected to be covered by home and/or host labs.
Eligibility
Applicants must be enrolled in an Engineering PhD program or employed as a postdoctoral researcher in the College of Engineering. Graduate student applicants must have passed their preliminary exam or have their
preliminary exam scheduled so that it will be completed before traveling for this collaboration.
Criteria
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Evidence of promising research trajectory and motivation for faculty career as judged by the graduate student's/postdoc's application essay, CV (including a list of all published/submitted articles and conference papers), and letters of support.
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Strengthening a new collaboration - Purdue and external PIs should not have joint funding or have published together in the previous five years.
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Collaborative excellence – extent to which the collaboration, if successful, will help the grantee in their future faculty career at a top institution.
Applicants should combine the following documents into
one .pdf file:
·
TRACER Application form (second page of the attached document)
·
One-page statement describing (a) their research success thus far and career objectives and (b) the potential for collaborative excellence (i.e., include briefly what the collaboration will be about,
excellence of collaborator’s group, synergy or complementarity with current research).
·
Letter from current Purdue research advisor(s) providing (a) evidence of why they think this PhD student/postdoc has a strong future potential to become a successful faculty at a top Engineering College/University,
(b) describing why the collaboration if successful will help the grantee secure future faculty careers at top institutions.
·
Letter from hosting collaborator, including their (a) interest in the collaboration, (b) commitment to mentoring the student/postdoc toward future faculty careers, and (c) confirming that the collaboration
with the external mentor is a new collaboration (see definition in
Criteria section above).
·
Current curriculum vitae (CV) – not to exceed 3 pages
·
One-page budget showing expected travel and lodging expenditures, other sources of revenue (including fellowship, RA, or other employment, other travel grants, etc.), commitments (if any) from the partnering
lab, and the requested travel grant amount.
How to Apply
·
Students and postdocs must submit the attached Application for TRACER Travel Funds form
by October 1, 2024, for travel between January 1, 2025, and December 31, 2025.
o
Forms must be completed electronically and compiled into a single .pdf document.
·
Applicants must submit the form in the following manner:
o
Email your Request for TRACER Collaborative Travel Funds form as a .pdf attachment to
engrgrad@purdue.edu.
o
Write "TRACER Collaborative Travel Request" in the subject line.
Thanks so much,
Stephen M. McBride, Ph.D.
Assistant Director, Graduate Student Success
College of Engineering - Graduate Education
Purdue University
Neil Armstrong Hall of Engineering
ARMS 1233
701 West Stadium Avenue
West Lafayette, IN 47907