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Travel Grant Policy

Effective Date: June 30th, 2024

Last Revised: August 7th, 2024

Review Date: August 7th, 2024

Scheduled Next Review Date: August 7th, 2025

 

1. Reason for Policy:

STARS is dedicated to introducing crystallography, both its scientific and creative aspects, to the student community. STARS accomplishes this through its outreach programs, such as its crystal-growing competitions, summer camps, and workshops. In addition to sharing the message of the beauty and scientific importance of crystallography to the larger student audience and general public, STARS also strives to serve a platform for STARS members to learn how to perform crystallography research and present their work at conferences. Attending scientific conferences, such as the annual American Crystallographic Association (ACA) conference, is imperative for STARS members to present about their crystallography research, share the STARS mission, and network with the crystallographers and structural biologist of today. The cost of attending a conference often is high, given the high membership, registration, hotel booking, and traveling costs. This Travel Grant Policy seeks to provide support for STARS members who will be attending the ACA annual conference.

 

2. Policy Statement:

STARS branch members (1) who are registered STARS members (reference STARS bylaws) and registered high school or university/college students, (2) who are in good standing as STARS members (reference STARS bylaws), (3) who are registered STARS members with a STARS branch that is in good standing (reference STARS bylaws), (4) who are not related by familial ties to the STARS, Inc. board members or STARS, Inc. officers, (5) who have submitted an oral and/or poster presentation abstract to the ACA conference for the present application cycle, (6) who have submitted an ACA Student Travel Grant application to the ACA conference for the same application cycle, and (7) who have registered to attend the American Crystallographic Association conference for the same application cycle, are eligible to apply for the STARS Travel Grant. The application for the STARS Travel Grant to the ACA annual conference will require these six supporting information and will require, at times, documentation. If a STARS member is awarded the Travel Grant, the STARS Travel Grant will be disbursed through reimbursement after the conference of the application cycle takes place, and the quantity of supplemental support may vary from year to year based on funding available to STARS.

 

3. Scope:

This policy applies to STARS registered members with the proper qualifications (reference section 2). The items that are allowed and considered for reimbursement through the Travel Grant would include: (1) annual membership registration fee, (2) annual conference registration fee, (3) flights/plane tickets and/or other reasonable traveling costs, and (4) reasonable hotel reservation costs.

 

4. Applicability:

This policy is important for STARS, Inc. because it enables STARS members to participate in crystallography conferences, such as the American Crystallographic Association annual conference, which would be imperative for the STARS members. Going to the conference enables STARS members to see what the real world of crystallography and structural biology research is like, see all the technological applications that were and have been created, and see the applications of crystallography and structural biology research in the modern day. By having STARS members attend and present their crystallography outreach or research work at the conference, the STARS aim is for the STARS members to (1) be inspired by other people’s research and outreach work as well as to share with the structural biology community what STARS has most recently been doing for its outreach and research programs, (2) become more passionate about crystallography and STARS by attending the conference and (3) bring that passion back to their STARS branches and back to STARS and help strengthen the STARS mission and vision through its outreach and programs. With more members who have experienced the ACA conference, STARS will have more students with experience to better, more accurately, and more passionately share with other student audiences the importance and beauty of crystallography.

 

5. Policy Terms:

STARS: Structural Nucleic Acid Anticancer Research Society

ACA: American Crystallographic Association

IUCr: International Union of Crystallography

Application Cycle: The January 1st to August 31st eight-month period each calendar year for an ACA conference

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6. Procedures/Main Topic:

  1. Introduction:

    1. General: The ACA conference is the main conference that this Travel Grant Policy will be used for, which will further STARS members’ education of vanguard crystallography and structural biology. The ACA conference is an annual conference that usually occurs in July of each summer. The only other related conference that might be considered is the International Union of Crystallography (IUCr) conference, which is held once every three years. The next IUCr conference, as of the time that this policy is written, will be hosted in late August of 2026.

    2. Key dates:          

      1. ACA conference oral presentation abstract submission deadline

      2. ACA conference ACA Student Travel Fund application submission deadline

      3. STARS Travel Grant application Part I deadline: one week after ACA oral presentation abstract submission deadline or one week after ACA student Travel Fund application submission deadline, whichever one comes later

      4. ACA releases abstract acceptances

      5. ACA releases ACA Student Travel Grant recipients

      6. ACA early bird conference registration deadline, which will be the same deadline for STARS Travel Grant application Part II

      7. STARS Travel Grant awardees announced three weeks after ACA early bird conference registration deadline ends.

    3. ACA details: The ACA conference oral and poster presentation abstract submission usually occurs around February and March, while the registration deadline for attending the conference is usually around April or May. If a STARS member submitted an abstract for presenting an oral and/or poster presentation at the ACA conference, then the results on whether his or her abstract application was accepted or not will be released in late March. If the abstract application was accepted, then the STARS member should register for the ACA conference of that year and will be giving the presentation at the conference. If the abstract application was not accepted, the STARS member should still be encouraged to register for the ACA conference of that year but will not be giving any presentations. To reiterate, if a STARS member would like to apply for the STARS Travel Grant for a given application cycle, the STARS member is required to submit an oral and/or poster presentation abstract to the ACA conference for the same application cycle.

    4. Student Travel Grant opportunity provided by ACA: At the time of the oral and poster presentation abstract submissions, the ACA will provide an opportunity for abstract applicants to submit a Student Travel Grant. The results as to if the application was accepted or denied usually are released after the early bird conference registration deadline.

  2. Basic provisions of STARS Travel Grant:

    1. The application cycle for a given award year will be the eight-month period from January 1st to August 31st of each year that the ACA conference is hosted.

    2. Eligibility: STARS branch members (1) who are registered STARS members (reference STARS bylaws) and registered high school or university/college students, (2) who are active STARS members (reference STARS bylaws), (3) who are active STARS members with a STARS branch that is in good standing (reference STARS bylaws), (4) who are not related by familial ties to the STARS, Inc. board members or STARS, Inc. officers, (5) who have submitted an oral and/or poster presentation abstract to the ACA conference for the present application cycle, (6) who have submitted an ACA Student Travel Grant application to the ACA conference for the same application cycle, and (7) who have registered to attend the American Crystallographic Association conference for the same application cycle, are eligible to apply for the STARS Travel Grant.

    3. Scope: This policy only applies for STARS registered members. The items that are allowed and considered for reimbursement through the STARS Travel Grant would include: (1) annual ACA membership registration fee, (2) annual ACA conference registration fee, (3) flights/plane tickets and/or other reasonable traveling costs for attending the conference, and (4) reasonable hotel reservation costs for attending the conference.

  3. Procedure/timeline for application:

    1. Application: Part 1

      1. STARS members will be informed about the STARS Travel Grant in the fall semester preceding each application cycle.

      2. STARS members will be formally notified about the STARS Travel Grant opportunity available at the beginning of each application cycle

      3. The application cycle opens, and if the STARS member would like to apply for STARS Travel Grant support, then when the STARS member is submitting the stipulated ACA oral and/or poster presentation abstract and the stipulated the ACA Student Travel Grant application, the STARS member also needs to submit his or her application for the STARS Travel Grant application.

      4. The STARS Travel Grant application deadline will be set one week after the ACA Student Travel Grant application deadline or one week after the deadline for ACA oral presentation abstract submission, whichever one is later, for each application cycle.

      5. The STARS Travel Grant Selection committee will perform an initial review of the applications and leave comments.

    2. Application: Part II        

      1. If a STARS member’s oral and/or poster presentation abstract is accepted, the STARS member must register to attend the ACA conference, as an agreed stipulation for submitting the STARS Travel Grant application.

      2. With the results of the oral and/or poster presentation abstract(s) released before the early bird ACA conference registration deadline, applicants can consider their situation. If he or she had received both of these items or just the acceptance of the abstract(s) from the ACA, then he or she is required to register for the ACA conference of that application cycle before the early bird registration deadline. If he or she did not receive an ACA acceptance of his or her abstract, he or she may reconsider.

      3. When an applicant receives news about the acceptance/decline status of their oral and/or poster presentation abstract (which is usually announced before the early bird registration deadline), he or she must notify the STARS Travel Grant selection committee as soon as possible.

      4. When an applicant receives news about the acceptance/decline status of their ACA Student Travel Grant (which is usually announced before the early bird registration deadline), he or she must notify the STARS Travel Grant selection committee as soon as possible.

      5. If an applicant registers for the ACA conference of the same application cycle, he or she must notify the STARS Travel Grant selection committee as soon as possible.

      6. To reiterate, the STARS Travel Grant award will only be considered for applicants who have registered for the ACA conference.

      7. The STARS Travel Grant application results will be released two weeks after the ACA early bird conference registration deadline.

      8. If several STARS Travel Grant applications were submitted, slight preference for awarding the STARS Travel Grant will be given to the applicants (1) who’s oral and/or poster presentation abstract(s) were accepted and (2) who received the ACA Student Travel Grant.

      9. STARS will notify the selected STARS members who will be supported by the STARS Travel Grant two weeks after the ACA early bird conference registration deadline. STARS will notify the awarded STARS member(s) the approximate amount of reimbursement support expected, based on the funds available to STARS at the time.

    3. STARS Travel Grant Disbursement:

      1. The STARS member (1) attends the ACA conference, (2) receives the ACA Student Travel Grant disbursement, if applicable, (3) sends a notification to the STARS Travel Grant selection committee with (A) pdfs of proof of the eligible expenses related to the ACA conference (reference section 3) incurred, as well as a (B) pdf of ACA Student Travel Grant disbursement confirmation or pdf of ACA Student Travel Grant disbursement check. After the STARS Travel Grant selection committee reviews this information, it will evaluate the amount of additional financial support that the STARS member may need, and the STARS Travel Grant selection committee will partially or fully reimburse the remaining amount to the STARS member, with the general cap of reimbursement per awarded STARS member at around $600.

  4. Student application requirements

    1. STARS member must be eligible to apply for the STARS Travel Grant (reference section 2).

    2. For Application Part I:

      1. STARS member must submit a (1) cover letter, (2) a resume, (3) a letter of support from an advisor, (4) STARS member attendance records, as provided by the STARS branch, which must be in good standing, directly to STARS, (5) documentation supporting the submission of an oral and/or poster presentation abstract to the ACA conference for the present application cycle (the documentation must include the date/time, student name, the abstract portal, etc. in the same picture/pdf), and (6) documentation supporting the submission of the ACA Student Travel Grant application to the ACA conference for the same application cycle (the documentation must include the date/time, student name, the abstract portal, etc. in the same picture/pdf).

      2. The STARS Travel Grant application will due one week after the ACA Student Travel Grant application deadline or one week after the deadline for ACA oral presentation abstract submission, whichever one is later, for each application cycle.

      3. The STARS Travel Grant application due dates, requirements, and stipulations will be made available to STARS members.

    3. For application Part II:

      1. Before the ACA early bird registration deadline, the applicant will receive information on if his or her abstract and ACA Student Travel Grant were accepted. The applicants must report these results to the STARS Travel Grant Selection Committee

      2. By applying for the STARS Travel Grant, applicants agree that if the applicant and his or her abstract was accepted by the ACA conference, then the applicant must register for the ACA conference of the same application cycle. By applying for the STARS Travel Grant, applicants agree and abide by this, and this statement of acknowledgement must be present on the application for Part I.

      3. Applicants must notify the STARS Travel Grant Selection Committee by the ACA early bird registration deadline his or her ACA conference registration decision. If he or she decides to register to attend the ACA conference.

      4. Registration to attend the ACA conference of the same application cycle is required for consideration of the STARS Travel Grant. By applying for the STARS Travel Grant, applicants agree and abide by this, and this statement of acknowledgement must be present on the application for Part I.

    4. The cover letter must state the reasons why the STARS member would like to attend the ACA meeting of that application cycle. Some questions that the cover letter may contain are: Why specifically do you want to attend the ACA conference? Why specifically do you want to attend this year? What do you hope to accomplish by attending the conference? What do you hope to learn by attending the conference? Would you be a first-time attendee? Do you need financial support?

    5. The resume should include: name of applicant, name of education institution, skills, research experience, leadership experience, work experience, awards and recognitions, and/or presentations, if applicable.

    6. The letter of support from an advisor must come from an advisor who is not a STARS student member and should have a relatively close mentorship or teaching professor relationship with the STARS member and know the STARS member relatively well.

    7. STARS Travel Grant application Part I and Part II must be both submitted before their respective deadlines to be considered for the STARS Travel Grant, unless dictated otherwise by STARS for specific cases or circumstances.

  5. STARS Travel Grant award judging and awarding process:

    1. Selection criteria for Part I: After STARS members submit their STARS Travel Grant application Part I, the STARS Travel Grant selection committee will meet to evaluate the applications Part I, aside from technicalities, based on applicant trajectory, how well the student would benefit from attending the ACA conference, how well STARS would benefit by financially supporting the student to attend the ACA conference, how well the student would represent STARS at the ACA conference, and how well the student can take advantage of the opportunities at the ACA conference. Each of the committee members of the STARS Travel Branch selection committee will provide commentary and feedback on each of the above categories for each application. A condensed summary and initial consideration response will be created for each application (each selection committee member will equally partake in this, with each selection committee member covering a roughly equivalent number of condensed summaries and consideration responses as the other committee members). These initial commentary, feedback, condensed summary, and initial consideration for each application will be saved. This Part I of the application reviewing process must take place within two or three weeks of the Part I submission deadline, so that these commentary will not be biased by whether the applicant had received the abstract admission and/or the ACA Student Travel Grant.

    2. Selection criteria for Part II: With the newly submitted information on the applicant’s status in terms of his or her abstract submission(s), his or her ACA Student Travel Grant submission, and his or her decision to register or not register for the ACA conference, the STARS Travel Grant selection committee will consider these things: (1) Did the applicant decide to register for the ACA conference? If yes, the rest of the application will be reviewed. If no, that means the student has decided to withdraw from the application process. (2) Was the applicant’s abstract to the ACA conference accepted? If yes, these applications are given preference. (3) Did the applicant receive the ACA Student Travel Grant? If yes, these applications will also be given slight preference. (4) Would this ACA conference be the applicant’s first ACA conference? If yes, these applications will also be given preference. The commentary, feedback, summaries, and initial consideration will weigh in for around 70% of the consideration, while the recent updates on the applicant’s abstract status and ACA Student Travel Fund status will weigh in for around 30% of the consideration for the awarding of the STARS Travel Grant. Ultimately, the STARS Travel Grant support will be given to STARS member applicants who are dedicated to the mission and vision of STARS, who have been involved in STARS crystallography outreach and research projects, who may have crystallography research and outreach merit with STARS, who have shown great potential in their interest and involvement in crystallography, and who can be expected to further vitalize the STARS mission and vision.

    3. After the awardees have been confirmed, the STARS Travel Grant selection committee will notify them of their award of the STARS Travel Grant for the ACA conference three weeks after the ACA early bird conference registration deadline. This result will notify the STARS member applicant if his or her STARS Travel Grant application was approved, and if so, how much the approximate expected reimbursement support would be.

    4. STARS members attend the ACA conference. At the end of the ACA conference, the student must submit proof for incurred eligible conference expenses through receipts. The student must also submit the proof of ACA Student Travel Grant funds dispersed to the student, if applicable. After evaluating the remaining eligible conference expenses that are not covered for the student by the ACA Student Travel Grant, the STARS Travel Grant selection committee will meet either once or twice during the week right after the ACA conference to decide on the quantities it will be able to reimburse the student, either in part or in full, for the rest of the eligible conference expenses.

  6. STARS Travel Grant award supervision:

    1. Information about the STARS Travel Grant will be provided to STARS members at the beginning of each year’s application cycle.

    2. Eligible STARS members will prepare an application that is consistent with the application requirements (reference 6 d).

    3. Any and all STARS Travel Grants must only be awarded to eligible STARS members (reference section 2) based on selection criteria (reference section 6 e).

    4. Any and all STARS Travel Grants awarded are dispersed through reimbursement only. This must be supervised by only dispersing the funds after STARS Travel Grant awardees provide receipts of eligible expenses to STARS.

    5. Any and all STARS Travel Grants can only be used for compensation of eligible expenses (refence section 3) that were not covered by other funding sources (such as the ACA Student Travel Fund) (reference section 6 e iv). This must be supervised by only dispersing the STARS Travel Grant funds after any ACA Student Travel Grant STARS member recipient provides receipts/check image/other documentation for receiving the ACA Student Travel Grant. This way, the financial support from the ACA Student Travel Grant will be taken into consideration, and a STARS Travel Trant awardee will not accidentally or mistakenly receive a surplus of unexplained funding.

    6. If an awardee violates one or more of the terms of the STARS Travel Grant, then on the first violation, the awardee will be given a warning in writing, and the awardee must amend the mistake. On the second violation, the awardee will be given a much more sterner warning in writing, and the awardee must amend the mistake. On the third violation, the STARS Travel Grant award decision will be revoked for that student, and the student will no longer receive the STARS Travel Grant funds for that application cycle. On the fourth violation, if that occurs, a heavier consequence may be required, if necessary, such as baring the STARS member from applying for any future STARS Travel Grant in any future application cycle.

  7. STARS Travel Grant prediction and reflection

    1. Students who receive the STARS Travel Grant must create a one paged document talking about their STARS Travel Grant application process, their reflection of deciding to attend the ACA conference and of accepting the STARS Travel Grant. Students are also required to talk about their aspirations, expectations, an goals going into the conference. They are also required to make a short prediction of what they think they will learn or what connections they think they will make. The student needs to submit this one-paged document at least seven days before the first day of the ACA conference, which is one of the stipulations and requirements of accepting the STARS Travel Grant.

    2. The same students will then attend the ACA conference, and then later, within seven days after the last day of the conference, they will submit a two paged document that discusses three main areas that they had learned the most from/about at the ACA conference, how the students had become involved in that area, what the students found interesting, how the students engaged with others, etc. The same students will now also compare and contrast what they had predicted to what their conference experience was like. What worked well, what didn’t work well, what was so cool, what was so inspiring, etc. Finally, this two-paged document must be concluded with a section that summarizes the student’s experience at the ACA conference, and how that relates to the work that they are doing at STARS, and how attending the conference represents STARS mission, vision, and core values. This document is the other stipulation and requirement of accepting the STARS Travel Grant.

  8. STARS Travel Grant award history record-keeping:

    1. The initial commentary, feedback, condensed summary, and initial consideration for each applicant, from Part I of the application will be saved for each applicant.

    2. The applicants’ statuses on the ACA abstract submission and the ACA Student Travel Grant application, from Part II of the application will also be saved for each applicant.

    3. A final document that is used for finalizing the list of STARS Travel Grant awardees will include information on the awardee, such as (1) name, (2) address, (3) purpose of award (which is, for all of them, to attend the ACA conference, develop presentation skills, and share with others the STARS mission and vision), (4) whether the awardee will be giving an oral/poster presentation at the conference, (5) whether the awardee was also given the ACA Student Travel Grant award, (6) approximated amount of each STARS Travel Grant given to each student, (7) reasoning for selection (which would include the most prominent, related details from the application Part I and Part II that decided on awarding this specific STARS member with the STARS Travel Grant award), and (8) relationship to board of directors or STARS officers (which is always no, as one of the requirements for application eligibility).

  9. STARS Travel Grant award selection committee determination process:

    1. (1) Two board directors, with one or both having board officer powers, and (2) one STARS college branch representative (who will not be attending the ACA conference for that application cycle) for each existing STARS college branch will be selected each year by 66.6% of the vote by the board of directors to serve on the STARS Travel Grant selection committee.

    2. One of the requirements to be an eligible STARS member applying for the STARS Travel Grant is to not be related to STARS board members or board officers (reference section 2), which means that the two board directors who participate in the STARS Travel Grant selection committee also will have no conflict of interest because they are not applying for the STARS Travel Grant.

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7. Forms:

STARS Travel Grant Application Instructions (a restatement of 6d i-vi)

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8. Frequently asked questions:

None.

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9. Enforcement:

Board of Directors and STARS Travel Grant selection committee will enforce it by announcing pertinent information to STARS members when required, by announcing the deadlines clearly to the STARS members, by keeping to the required dates for the STARS Travel Grant application timeline, by conducting meetings and reviewing the applications in a timely manner, by releasing application results in a timely manner, and by conducting and facilitating this program with kindness, honesty, and integrity.

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10. Related information:

None.

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Policy History:

       June 30th, 2024: The day that this policy was written into effect

       August 7th, 2024: The day that this policy was edited and updated.

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