The Adele Miccio Travel Award – FY 2024/2025

Application Deadline: October 15, 2024, by 5pm

Our late colleague, Professor Adele Miccio, co-founder of the Center for Language Science, loved to travel and cared deeply for students. In her honor, the Center for Language Science sponsors a graduate student travel award. Although many graduate students attend professional conferences, it is often difficult in this context for them to meet and discuss their work with more senior scientists. Networking experiences are an important way in which individuals become known in the professional community, develop collaborative relationships, and arrange informal visits outside of professional meetings. Given the relatively short time frame of the tenure period, it is essential that individuals learn to make these connections to others in the field early in their careers. Therefore, the purpose of this award is to provide incentives for planned networking and resources for these experiences.

Again, this year, because of COVID-19, the award has been modified to support both in-person networking travel as well as virtual networking opportunities. The applicant can decide what option they feel most comfortable pursuing. Application and submission requirement details are included below for both options.

In-person Networking Travel

Applicants for the award will generate a plan for travel to meet with one or more senior scientists. In most cases, the applicant will visit the laboratory or working environment of the scientist. In some cases, the applicant will attend a conference or workshop where they can arrange meetings with one or more senior scientists. If meetings at a conference are proposed, the applicant must explain how there will be adequate time for meaningful private meetings in that context. After the travel plan in completed, the student will provide a brief written report of the experience and will give a presentation at a CLS meeting to share the experience with other students. Please remember that all international travel requires Global Safety Network approval, and you must log your trip at https://gsn.psu.edu/login. If you do not have a GSN approval email, your international travel costs will not be reimbursed.

Here are examples of the types of networking experiences that have proven beneficial in the past.

• The applicant makes a two-day visit to a university with an active language science program. While there, the applicant presents at a colloquium and a lab meeting, meets with graduate students and post-docs from several labs, has meetings with several faculty members whose research is relevant to the applicant’s own, and has 2 extended meetings with the researcher who is the sponsor of the visit. In these meetings, the applicant receives detailed feedback on a manuscript and a grant proposal, and a future collaboration is planned.
• The applicant attends a small international conference at which several researchers from Europe will be present – people who live too far from the applicant for a lab visit to be feasible. Because the conference is relatively small and does not include parallel sessions, the applicant is able to arrange ahead of time to meet 3 of the international researchers individually to discuss their presentations as well as preliminary data collected by the applicant. One of these meetings occurs soon after the applicant’s own presentation, so the applicant can receive direct and immediate feedback. One of the researchers agrees to serve as a consultant on a grant application.

Submission Requirements

1. Cover sheet with the following information: Your name, department, address, phone, email address and the name of your advisor(s). Indicate the type of networking: either visiting a lab or targeted networking at a conference. Applicants must be doctoral students who have passed their qualifying exam and must be regular attendees of the CLS Friday morning meetings. Please note that unlike the PIRE grant, the Adele Miccio Award is intended to support professional development through networking, not direct research activity. Be sure that your application describes a networking plan. Our resources are limited, so applicants who have received a previous Adele Miccio Award will not be eligible.
2. Provide a networking plan: A 1-page, single-spaced, 12-point font summary of
   1. Networking plan and its impact on the applicant’s research program
   2. Provide specific reasons for the proposed visit and specific goals to be accomplished during the visit (e.g., learn a new technique, collaboration, exchange of ideas, receive input on a grant proposal or manuscript).
   3. If planning a lab visit, state the length of time of the visit and provide concise justification for the time frame, i.e., how you will be able to accomplish your goals in the time planned (longer is not necessarily better, it depends on the situation).
   4. If planning to meet one or more individuals at a conference, meeting times should be at least tentatively set and described in the application, explaining how the meeting(s) will be productive in the often-hectic atmosphere of a conference; also explain how the meeting will contribute to your goals in a way that email correspondence would not.
   5. Describe the extent of prior contact, if any, with the target scientist.
3. Include corroborating letters from
   1. The targeted scientist/s confirming the proposed networking plan
   2. Your doctoral advisor stating support for the plan
4. A budget page showing the projected expenses including travel (e.g., airfare), lodging, conference registration. (The CLS has a budget of $5,500 for this award for FY 2024/2025. We anticipate that funds will be awarded to more than one applicant)
5. A copy of your up-to-date CV

Virtual Collaboration/Networking

Applicants for the award will generate a plan for virtual collaboration with one or more senior scientists, and a proposal for how the funds will be used to support that project. After the collaboration is completed, the student will provide a brief written report of the experience and will give a presentation at a CLS meeting to share the experience with other students.

Submission Requirements

1. Cover sheet with the following information: Your name, department, address, phone, email address and the name of your advisor(s). Applicants must be doctoral students who have passed their candidacy and must be regular attendees of the CLS Friday morning meetings. Please note that unlike the PIRE grant, the Miccio Award is intended to support professional development through networking, not only direct research activity, so be certain that a key goal of your project is networking! Our resources are limited, so applicants who have received a previous Miccio Award will not be eligible.
2. Provide a collaborative project plan- A 1-page, single-spaced, 12-point font summary of
   1. Collaborative project plan and its impact on the applicant's research program
   2. Provide specific reasons for the proposed collaboration and specific goals to be accomplished (e.g., learn a new technique, collect pilot data, etc.).
   3. Describe the timeline of the project. When will the goals be accomplished? Note that funds must be spent by June 10, 2024, although some work on the project may continue after that time.
   4. Describe the extent of prior contact, if any, with the targeted senior scientist.
   5. Your approved IRB study name and protocol number or your plan for obtaining IRB approval if applicable.
3. Include corroborating letters from
   1. the targeted senior scientist/s confirming the proposed plan
   2. your doctoral advisor stating support for the plan
4. A budget page showing the projected expenses including materials, participant payments, etc. (The CLS has a budget of $5,500 for this award for FY 2024/2025. We anticipate that funds will be awarded to more than one applicant)
5. A copy of your up-to-date CV.

Expectations for those who receive CLS funding

1. Please plan to reach out to Heather Mann (hmg108@psu.edu), within 2 weeks of receiving an award notice, with your plans for spending these funds.
2. The amount of funding that you are awarded is a firm amount and cannot be increased. Please keep this in mind when attaching a budget to your funding application. If you need budgeting assistance, please reach out to Heather Mann for assistance at least 2 weeks before the funding application deadline.
3. If you receive a travel award, please plan to work with Heather Mann (hmg108@psu.edu) and Brittany Glunt (bdg11@psu.edu) within 2 weeks of receiving your award notice to book airfare and lodging associated with your travel. Waiting until the last minute to book airfare and lodging will result in higher costs and less money available for other applicable expenses.
4. All funding provided by the CLS must be used and settled with Heather Mann by June 10, 2025. Due to fiscal year deadlines set by the finance office; Heather will need your final settlement documents by this date to allow her to finalize all expenses.
5. If you are not able to use the funds you have been awarded, please notify Heather Mann asap so that the funds can be re-purposed.

Awardees will be required to:

1. To submit a one-page report on the networking and collaboration experience and accomplished goals.
2. To present at a CLS meeting to share the networking and collaboration experience with other graduate students.

Submitting your application

• All applications should be submitted electronically to Brittany Glunt at bdg11@psu.edu by 5pm on October 15, 2024. All application materials should be submitted as an integrated single PDF file with materials in the order listed above and emailed to Brittany as an attachment.
• Questions may be addressed to Brittany Glunt at bdg11@psu.edu.

Relevant Dates

Deadline for submission: October 15, 2024, by 5 pm.

Estimated date of announcement of awards: October 22, 2024

Period for using the award: October 28, 2024 - June 10, 2025

Deadline for submitting the final report: August 31, 2025

Date for CLS Presentation: During the Fall 2025 CLS Distinguished Speakers Series