Call for Applications

AAPG Foundation Grants-In-Aid Program for 2013

The purpose of the AAPG Foundation Grants-in-Aid program is to foster research in the geosciences. Grants are made to provide financial assistance to graduate students (currently enrolled in Masters or Ph.D. programs) whose thesis research has application to the search for and development of petroleum and energy-mineral resources, and/or to related environmental geology issues. If you are unclear about any application guidelines,contact the AAGG Foundation office at tcampbell@aapg.org.

Here are a few helpful hints to follow:

Begin a submission to the following:

Steps for Submitting a Grants-In-Aid Program Application Online:

1. Step 1 - Applicant

   Applicant Name and Contact Information (* required information)

   1. First Name/Given Name*
   2. Last Name/Family Name*
   3. University (leave blank if using home address)
   4. Department/Discipline (leave blank if using home address)
   5. Address Line 1
   6. Address Line 2
   7. City*
   8. State/Province
   9. Country*
   10. Zip/Postal Code
   11. Home Phone Number* (either home or office phone number is required)
   12. Office Phone Number*
   13. Office Fax Number
   14. Email Address*
   15. Alternative Email Address
   16. Citizenship*
   17. Gender*

   Eligibility Requirements: 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. Students are eligible to win twice during the duration of their graduate studies. Any questions or concerns regarding eligibility, please contact AAPG GIA's Program Coordinator, Jane Terry at tcampbell@aapg.org

   .

2. Step 2 - Personal History

   Personal Academic and Employment History (* required information)
   
   Present Institution:

   1. Institution Name*
   2. Dept./Discipline Name*
   3. Degree Now Being Sought*
   4. GPA or Average Exam Score
   5. Anticipated Graduation Date (mm/yyyy)

   Previous Institution:

   1. Institution Name
   2. Dept./Discipline Name
   3. Degree Obtained
   4. GPA or Average Exam Score
   5. Graduation Date (mm/yyyy)

   Explanations

   1. Because universities vary world wide, provide information as requested below.
   2. Explain your university degrees (i.e. 4th year, bachelors with honors, B.S., M.S., Ph.D.)*
   3. What "rank" does your exam average represent? (e.g. 2nd Class Honors, Very Good, Good, etc.)?*
   4. What is the highest rank attainable (e.g. 1st Class Honors, A, Excellent, Distinction, etc.)?
   5. What is lowest passing grade?
   6. What is the usual grade required to be hired by a petroleum, energy, minerals, or environmental company?

   Awards

   1. Academic awards and honors*
      - For each please provide name of award, institution making award, year
   2. Non-academic awards as well as other activities and interests*

   Work Experience

   1. Professional experience*
      - job, employer, location, dates of employment
   2. Other work experience (e.g. volunteer, part-time, etc.) and other experiences that demonstrate nontechnical skills such as leadership, creativity, communication skills, etc.*

   U.S. Military Service (if applicable)

   1. Do you have U.S. Military Service experience?*
      
   2. Date of enlistment and discharge
   3. Indicate the branch in which you served
   4. Were you honorably discharged?
   5. Position Title/Rank, type of training or experience

3. Step 3 - Project Summary (including endorsements)

   Project Title and Summary Information (* required information)
   
   Title (enter in upper case)*
   
   Disciplinary Emphasis (First and Second Choice)*

   1. Development Geology
   2. Energy/Minerals
   3. Environmental
   4. Fracture Analysis
   5. Geophysics
   6. Paleontology
   7. Petroleum
   8. Petrophysics
   9. Regional Tectonics
   10. Sedimentology
   11. Stratigraphy
   12. Structural Geology

   Source of Research Project: Individual or group, student�s idea, part of professor�s on-going research, outgrowth of class work, critical review of literature, etc.*
   
   Project Goal: A one sentence statement of central goal of research project.*
   
   Percent of Project Completed*
   
   Suitability of Proposal to Grants-In-Aid Program: Describe how the project will contribute to the better understanding of petroleum geology, energy minerals geology, and/or related environmental issues. The suitability is critical to your thesis topic evaluation.*
   
   Total AAPGF Grants-In-Aid Request for this Project (full dollar amount)*

   1. $500, $750, $1000, $1250, $1500, $1750, $2000, $2250, $2500, $2750, $3000

   Restricted Grants: Select any of the Restricted Grants for which your project might qualify. Your application will be considered for all non-restricted grants based on your score. Click here for a list of the Named/Memorial Grants.*
   
   References: Provide the name and email addresses 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.
   
   When your application is complete, we will send email messages to the people you identify below (after the Confirmation Step), asking them to endorse or comment on you and your project. Please ensure that the email address you provide for each person is a working email address. Please inform these references that they will be asked to submit an opinion or endorsement online, and that AAPG will provide them via email with the necessary password and Web page address. Your application will NOT be considered complete until your references submit that information.
   
   Once a reference has submitted their opinion or endorsement online, you will receive an confirmation email that a reference was received by AAPG GIA online system. Please note, periodically universities and/or institutions block these confirmation emails, mistaking them for spam. The listed references have until Thursday, February 14, 2013 to submit their endorsement.

   1. Thesis/Project Supervisor*
      - First Name, Last Name, Email Address
   2. Department Chairman or Director*
      - First Name, Last Name, Email Address

4. Step 4 - Project Description

   Project Description must include the following sections (please be sure to include a colon after each heading):

   1. Purpose:
   2. Regional Context:
   3. Methods:
   4. Scientific Importance:

   The description should be 300 words words or less, including the required section headings. No pictures, charts, or tables are permitted. We strongly recommend that you compose the description in your usual word processor so that you might check spelling, grammar, and word count actually submitting your application. Descriptions exceeding the word count will not be accepted. But the system will not check or correct your spelling or grammar.

5. Step 5 - Project Budget (including blank & completed sample)

   AAPG Foundation requires all applicants to complete a project budget and funding request. Download and save the AAPG Foundation predefined Microsoft Excel spreadsheet (.xls) and then upload the completed file into your application. It is extremely important that you provide the budget for your entire project.
   
   For example, if your total research budget is $20,000 and you request $3,000 from the AAPG Foundation, please indicate which other agencies you have applied to for the additional funding of $17,000. Do NOT include money for the purchase of capital items such as computers, printers or tents. The Grants-in-Aid Program does NOT fund conferences, courses, salaries, tuition or room and board. Manuscript preparation should NOT include fees for publication or poster presentations.
   
   Budget and Funding Spreadsheet Instructions:
   
   1. Right click here and select "Save Link As" or "Save Target As" to download a Blank budget spreadsheet in Microsoft Excel format (.xls).
   
   2. To download a Completed Sample of an AAPG GIA budget spreadsheet in Microsoft Excel format (.xls) to assist you with correctly completing the budget form. Right click here and select "Save Link As" or "Save Target As".
   
   3. Open the saved spreadsheet on your computer.
   
   4. Fill out the spreadsheet and save it on your computer. Only enter data into the yellow cells on the spreadsheet. All "Total" cells in white will automatically calculate based on the information entered in the yellow cells. All other cells are password protected and you will not be able to edit/modify the spreadsheet.
   
   5. Be thorough and accurate but do not add padding. Be forthcoming about any additional sources of funding and/or attempts at funding. This shows financial need.

6. Step 6 - Previous AAPG Foundation Grant Disclosure

   Applicants will need to answer the following questions (where applicable) for previous AAPG Foundation Grants-in-Aid Recipients (if any):
   
   1. Have you have previously received an AAPG Foundation Grant-in-Aid?

   1. If you previously received an AAPGF Grant-in-Aid, you must provide the title, year of the grant, and award amount.
   1. If the "Research is completed", you will then need to cite the published reference.
   2. If the research "work is in progress", you will need to provide a one-page summary report and a brief financial statement.

   2. Is your project a work in progress not supported by AAPG?

   1. If yes, you will need to provide a one-page summary report and a brief financial statement.

7. Step 7 - Confirmation (including academic transcripts, checking endorsement status)

   Upon confirmation, your two references will receive an email notification requesting their endorsement. Please note, references MUST respond to that notification by submitting their endorsements online. Impress upon your advisor that a thorough, honest assessment of you and your project is in his/her best ineptest, too. We highly encourage you to complete your application approximately two weeks prior to the submission deadline. This will allow extra time for your references to complete the endorsement of your application prior to the deadline.
   
   You may assemble steps 1 through 6 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. However, please note, you WILL NOT be able to edit your application after you click the "Conclude the submission" button.
   
   

   Checking Status of Endorsements

   Applicants can check the status of the endorsement of your listed Thesis/Project Supervisor and the Department Chairman or Director. The Department Chairman will only be required to verify your application with a "yes" or "no". Simply log into the application, click the "View Submission" link in the left frame under "Options", then in the right frame scroll down to the "References" section. The listed references have until Thursday, February 14, 2013 to submit their endorsement.
   
   Once a reference has submitted their opinion or endorsement online, you will receive a confirmation email that a reference was received by the AAPGF-GIA online system. AAPGF-GIA staff periodically resends notifications to references that have yet to provide their endorsement online. If you would like to request to have the endorsement notification resent again, please contact AAPG GIA's Program Coordinator, Jane Terry at tcampbell@aapg.org and provide your Application ID#.
   
   

   Academic Transcripts

   Official transcripts from the last two years or four semesters are required. If you are using transcripts from 2012, please email the Foundation to have them added to your application. We do not accept photocopies, facsimiles, computer generated transcripts or certificates of your degree in place of an official academic transcript. If you are a first-year M.S. student, provide your undergraduate transcript. If you are a Ph.D. candidate, provide your M.S. transcript. Please make sure your transcripts show current enrollment.
   
   We require the official transcript in your native language and prefer you include an English translation.
   
   If your school does not issue transcripts, you must provide a signed statement on letterhead from your professor commenting on your academic credentials. Please list courses studied, including dates.
   
   Transcripts can be emailed from the official university registrar department or mailed to:
   
   AAPG Foundation
   Grants-in-Aid Program
   1444 S. BOULDER AVENUE
   TULSA, OK 74119
   
   You will receive an email when your transcript has been uploaded. If you have not received an email by 5 p.m. central time on Tuesday, February 12, 2013, you may want to track your transcript to locate its whereabouts. Transcripts will be accepted until Thursday, February 14, 2013.

8. Need Support?

   Grants-In-Aid Program Questions/Concerns

   
   If you do not have browsing access to the Internet and/or have questions/concerns about the Grants-In-Aid program including academic transcripts and endorsement notification resend requests, please contact us by e-mail, or write to:
   
   AAPG Foundation-Grants-in-Aid Program
   P.O. Box 979
   Tulsa, OK 74101-0979 USA
   
   

   Technical Support

   
   For help submitting an application online, email Tech Support. Please provide your Application ID# so we can better assist you.