Travel support for APS Student Members to attend the APS Annual Meeting are made possible through the numerous APS Foundation Named Student Travel Funds. The APS Graduate Student Committee along with the Foundation Board develop the application standards and are part of the review and selection of travel awardees.

Donate to the Student Travel Funds

Funds Available for Plant Health 2025​

​Amount: 40 travel awards at $600 each

Deadline to Apply: ​March 20, 2025

The Student Travel Award Application is part of the Plant Health 2025​ abstract submission process. Review eligibility and application requirements prior to applying with your abstract submission. 

Eligibility and Application Requirements​

• Student Membership in APS is required. The applicant must be currently enrolled as a graduate student or have completed their graduate program within 12 months of the current APS annual meeting date (August 2, 2025). 
  

• Student Members who received travel funds last year are not eligible for funding the following year. NOTE Graduate Students selected for the I.E. Melhus Symposium are not eligible for additional funding from the Student Travel Funds. 
  

• Applicants are required to submit an abstract with the plan to present either a poster or oral at Plant Health 2025​.
  

• Applicants selected to receive funding are required to be registered for Plant Health 2025​ by the June 6, 2025 presenter registration deadline. Those not registered by the deadline will have their abstract withdrawn from the program and will no longer be eligible to receive travel funding.
  

• Review Application Components​​
  

• ​Sections 1-5, are how reviewers will score your application. 

• Section 6 will be used by the APS Foundation Board and will not affect your application score. ​However, Section 6 must be completed before you can submit your application.​ ​
  

Application Components

1. Abstract content and style (20 points)

The abstract uploaded during the Plant Health 2025​ abstract submission will automatically be part of the student travel fund application. Students submitting multiple abstracts may only apply for travel funding once.   

• Title clear, interesting, and with broad appeal? (0-5 points)
  
• Clear objective? (0-5 points)
  
• Study placed in context of pathosystem or larger field? (0-5 points)
  
• Engaging style and clear summation or conclusion? (0-5 points)
  

2) Professional Development Plan for the Annual Meeting (500-word limit, 20 points)

Briefly describe your plan to make the most of your time at the meeting.

• How will you choose and capitalize on networking opportunities? (0-5 points)
  

• How will you make contacts and appointments before the meeting? (0-5 points)
  

• How will you choose the above contacts? (0-5 points)

• What 10 keywords would you use to search the meeting program? (0-5 points)

3) Tapping into Graduate Student Creativity (20 points total)

This section is split into two sub-sections, both of which are designed to allow graduate students to showcase their creativity in soft skills such as fundraising and public outreach.

   Part 1: Foundation Fundraising/ Generation of New Donors (250-word limit)

• Propose an initiative to either raise additional funds for Foundation, to attract new donors from within membership, or to attract new donors from outside membership. Describe how someone could contribute to the above effort, ensure its success, or enlist others to help. If Foundation implements your idea, you’ll be offered a role in leading it, but your selection is not contingent on accepting the offer. 

• Creativity/ originality of idea (0-5 points)

• Potential for success and evidence in support (0-5 points)

   Part 2: Community Engagement (250-word limit)

• Propose an idea for how to engage and communicate with your local community about topics in plant pathology. What is a way that you can generate interest about a specific topic with the general public?
• Creativity/ originality of idea (0-5 points)
• ​​Potential for success and evidence in support (0-5 points)

4) Curriculum Vitae ​(2-page limit, 20 points)

• Clear, attractive format, free of errors (0-5 points)
• Evidence of engagement in APS at any level (0-5 points)
• ​Membership duration, regional or national meeting attendance, publication in APS journals, committee involvement, etc.
• Evidence of service and volunteerism at department, disciplinary, or institutional level (0-5 points)
• Evidence of productivity and excellence in research, teaching, extension, ​or outreach (0-5 points)
  

5) Advisor’s letter of support (1-page limit, 20 points)

Faculty providing the letter of support will submit their letter through a unique link that is emailed to them through the online application system. The link leads to a web page within the student application where the text of their recommendation letter can be copied to a form field and submitted. This ensures the faculty letters of recommendation will not be accessible by t​he student applicants. Once the student applicant has designated within the online application who will be writing a letter of recommendation on their behalf, they will be able to see when the letter has been submitted by their advisor but cannot access the letter once uploaded.

• Does the letter provide a compelling reason to recognize the student with travel funding? (0-10 points)
  
• Does the letter provide specificity to support general claims regarding the student? (0-10 points) 

6) Survey (no point value):

The survey is used for planning purposes only by the APS Foundation. Although it has no point value and is not used in the evaluation process, it's completion is required for all applicants. ​​