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David S. Bruce Undergraduate Research Awards |
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History David S. Bruce (1939–2000) served as Chair of the APS Teaching Section and as a professor of physiology at Wheaton College from 1978-2000. Dr. Bruce was a dedicated physiology educator who played active roles in both the APS and the Society for Integrative & Comparative Biology. As an undergraduate educator at Wheaton College, Dr. Bruce had a particular interest in engaging undergraduate students in scientific research. Dr. Bruce not only encouraged and supported his students in participating in research, but he also regularly brought undergraduate students to the Experimental Biology meeting, often to present their research findings. In 2000, Dr. Bruce died at the age of 61 of complications following a kidney transplant. The David Bruce Award honors Dr. Bruce’s commitment to promoting undergraduate involvement in research, in the APS annual meeting, and, ultimately, in research careers. Procedure The David S. Bruce Awards will be made each year at the Experimental Biology meeting to up to four undergraduate students who have both submitted abstracts for the meeting and award application materials (see below). Abstracts will be reviewed by the David S. Bruce Award Committee prior to the Experimental Biology (EB) meeting. The award committee includes selected members of the APS Education Committee and, if deemed necessary, additional APS members to provide a breadth of coverage for major topic areas. The Award Committee selects 12-15 finalists. These students will be notified of their finalist status well in advance of the meeting. At EB, all undergraduate students will be invited to present their research posters not only during their regular scientific session but also at a special poster session to be held Sunday evening prior to the Bowditch Lecture. Earlier in the day, the 12-15 finalists will be asked to set up their posters in the same room. They will be interviewed by the Award Committee in the afternoon. After the interviews, the Committee will decide the final awardees. The final awardees will be announced and will receive their certificates during the Sunday evening undergraduate poster session. Winners will also be announced at the APS Business Meeting on Tuesday evening. Eligibility Applicants for the David S. Bruce Award must: be enrolled as an undergraduate student at the time of the application and at the time of the EB meeting; be the first author on a submitted abstract for the EB meeting. Students may not submit more than one abstract for the award competition each year; be working with an APS member who attests that the student is deserving of the first authorship; have not previously won the David S. Bruce Award; and submit a one-page letter that discusses his/her role in the research, the significance of the research, and his/her career plans. Review Criteria for Abstracts Abstracts and student letters will serve as the basis for selection of the 12-15 finalists. Review criteria include the following (1): the abstract displays a clear logic and flow of ideas; the scientific problem includes a clear hypothesis to be tested, a well-described approach to the problem using clear experimental methods or model; the results of the study are presented succinctly; the discussion and/or conclusions are concise and follow logically from the results presented; the student’s letter indicates that s/he played a significant role in the research, has an understanding of the significance of the research, and has some interest in a biomedical and/or physiology-related career. Review Criteria for Poster Presentations As noted above, the Award Committee will interview the 12-15 finalists during the special undergraduate poster session. Winners will be selected from among the finalists. The Awards Committee will consider: quality of the poster and oral presentation; quality of graphics used; organization of the poster; creativity used in displaying and describing the research as well as in the development of the research project; novelty of the research project; student display of his/her understanding of the work and its significance. Awards Following the poster presentation, the Awards Committee will meet to make their final selections. The APS Council previously recommended that the total number of awards be not greater than 10% of the applicant pool, with a maximum of 4 awards annually. Each of the awards will include: $500 travel award; award certificates for both finalists and awardees. Note: All undergraduates already are eligible for free registration to EB, therefore, registration is not part of the award. Award Presentation As noted earlier, the awards will be presented at the end of the Sunday evening undergraduate poster session and will be noted at the APS Business Meeting on Tuesday evening. Presentation of the awards during the weekend is important since most undergraduate students are unable to stay at the meeting until the Tuesday business meeting; most leave by Monday afternoon. Those who stay until Tuesday generally leave in the afternoon. Award Program Evaluation The student finalists and awardees will be contacted in subsequent years to both determine their career progress and to invite their continued participation in APS meetings and activities such as the Summer Research Program. 1. These criteria were modeled after those used for the Carolyn tum Suden/Frances A. Hellebrandt Awards. |