AAPG Foundation Grants-in-Aid Program for 2009 Submission deadline -- January 31, 2009

The American Association of Petroleum Geologists Foundation announces its Grants-in-Aid Program for 2009. The Program includes special grants named in recognition of the following individuals and institutions that have made substantial contributions to the Foundation, petroleum and energy-mineral sciences, teaching, or research:

Aims

The purpose of the Program is to foster research in the geosciences by providing support to graduate students in the earth sciences whose research has application to the search for and development of petroleum and energy-minerals resources, and to related environmental geology issues.

Eligibility and Grant Size

Award recipients must be enrolled in a Masters or Ph.D program or their equivalent. Fourth year degrees or B.S. with honors are not eligible for grants. Monetary awards up to a maximum amount of $3,000.

Use of Grants

Grants are to be applied to expenses directly related to the student’s thesis work, such as summer field work, laboratory analyses, etc. Funds are not to be used to purchase capital equipment, attend conferences, or to pay salaries, tuition, or room and board during the school year. Funds must be spent within 18 months of receipt of the award. The educational institution attended by the applicant must not require or allow a grant to be turned over to the institution or decrease any funding or other benefit received by the applicant if a grant is awarded.

Basis for Awarding Grants

Grants will be based on merit and, in part, on the financial needs of the applicant. Factors weighed in selection of successful applicants include: qualifications of the applicant as indicated by past academic performance, originality and imagination of the proposed project, support by the department in which the work is being done, and perceived significance of the project to petroleum, energy-minerals, and related environmental geology. The program focuses on support of qualified candidates for masters or equivalent degrees. Qualified doctoral candidates with expenses beyond the usual scope of funding by other agencies are also encouraged to apply.

Candidates for Master's or equivalent degrees may receive a maximum of one grant, and Ph.D. candidates may receive a maximum of two grants. No more than two grants will be awarded to any one applicant during their graduate education.

Online Application Deadline:

Applications MUST be completed online by 11:59pm (PST) on January 31, 2009. Applications completed after that date will not be considered.

Award Notification:

Check the AAPG Foundation website foundation.aapg.org for the announcement of the 2009 recipients.

International Applicants:

Grants to successful applicants are made in U.S. dollars, usually by a check drawn on a U.S. bank. However, in some countries delivery of grants can only be assured by bank wire transfer. Students selected to receive grants will be contacted by the AAPG Foundation concerning delivery of their grants. They must confirm that they can safely accept mail delivery of the grant payable by U.S. check, or they must provide all the banking information necessary for wire transfer of the grant, including the appropriate bank account in the name of the student recipient. A grant will not be sent to a third party or wire transferred to a third party's account. Students who are unable to accept funds by one of these methods will be ineligible, and should not apply..

Top 10 Reasons Applications Fail

1. Deadline for proposal submission not met
2. Research does not meet GIA objectives
3. Project lacks originality, imagination or potential to impact science
4. Proposal is incomplete or not clear (for example vague workplans, unclear deliverables)
5. Scope of work and timetable are not realistic
6. Application guidelines are not followed
7. The quality of the writing is poor
8. Application contains mechanical errors (for example typos, missing words)
9. The budget spreadsheet is incomplete or incorrect
10. Budget contains inappropriate items (for example funds requested for capital goods)

Resume or Retrieve a Submission

If you have already submitted a grant and you wish to view, resume, or withdraw that submission, Click Here then log in using the ID# and Password# already provided to you. However, please note, you WILL NOT be able to edit your application after you "Conclude the submission".

Required Online Application Information

The online application is a step by step submission process in which you must complete all the required information on a step before the online system will allow you to advance to the next step. At any point in the online submission process, prior to the deadline, you can return to a previous completed step, simply by clicking the step name in the "Application Control Panel" (left frame) in which the online appplication process. However, please note, you WILL NOT be able to edit your application after you completed the Confirmation step i.e. clicking the "Conclude the submission" button.

Before beginning your submission, we recommend that you review the lists of required information. (Click on each hyperlink below to see more detail.)

1. Applicant name and contact information
2. Academic and employment history
3. Project summary
4. Description of research project
5. Project budget and funding request
• Right click here and select "Save Link As" or "Save Target As" to download a BLANK budget spreadsheet in Microsoft Excel format.
• To download a COMPLETED Sample of an AAPG GIA budget spreadsheet in Microsoft Excel format, to assist you with correctly completing the budget form. Right click here and select "Save Link As" or "Save Target As".
6. Previous AAPG Foundation grant (if any).
7. The name and email address for two separate references qualified to endorse you and your project. (Preferably your thesis/project supervisor and the Department Chairman or Director -- not the same person). The Department Chairman will only be required to verify your current student status. These references will be entered in the "Project Summary" step on the online application process.
8. Official college academic transcripts from the last two years (or equivalent). This transcript MUST be mailed to AAPG Foundation, c/o Grants-in-Aid Program, 1444 S. Boulder Ave., Tulsa, Oklahoma 74119 USA and cannot be submitted online. Xerox copies of transcripts are unacceptable. Transcripts are accepted up to 2 weeks after the January 31 deadline but should be sent by expediated mail service. Academic transcripts should be postmarked by January 31, 2009.

Once all of the above information has been submitted and have completed the "Confirmation" step of the online application process. Your two references will receive an email notification requesting their endorsement, with the requested information to provide their endorsement online. Please note, references MUST respond to that notification by submitting their endorsements online. Applicants can check the status of their reference endorsement by logging into their aplication (See "Resume or Retrieve a Submission" above), upon accessiong the online application, clicking "View Submission" in the "Application Control Panel" (left frame) then in the right frame scroll down to the "References" section for the "Endorsement Status".

You may assemble elements 1 through 7 online, resuming or revising your submission at any point between now and the submission deadline. Once you begin a submission, please note your ID# and password in the top left frame. You will need to utilize this information to login to your submission. - See "Resume or Retrieve a Submission" section above to login. However, please note, you WILL NOT be able to edit your application after you "Conclude the submission".

If you are ready to begin a new submission, click the button below.