[Neuropostdocs] RE: Travel Fellowships

Wed Mar 16 14:02:32 CST 2005

I will look into ways to get both external and internal sources of 
funding. I will also look at other postdoc associations and see what 
they are doing regarding travel fellowships. The SFN Chapter 
postdoctoral travel awards are not exactly what I had in mind. It is a 
very competitive travel award. Each of the 111 SFN local chapters is 
allowed to nominate only 1 postdoc for the travel award. Out of those 
potential 111 candidates, the SFN awarded 8 fellowships in 2003 (data 
for 2004 not on website). There are more chances of getting an NRSA 
than an SFN travel award...

I would greatly appreciate help and guidance once potential funding 
avenues are identified.

Christian

On 05-03-16, at 10:05, Gene Robinson wrote:

>  Christian,
>
>  Yes, we're constrained due to the nature of our funding source.  And 
> yes, this is another example of the frustrating position of the 
> postdoc in academia.  However, maybe we can join forces.  If we can 
> identify a funding source, perhaps the postdocs and NSP can work 
> together to get a grant for this purpose.  There are lots of postdoc 
> associations out there, and some do get foundation support.  Perhaps 
> you could begin searching for suitable funding outlets?  If some 
> promising leads were found, we could look into the campus perhaps 
> putting up some matching funds to make the proposal more attractive.
>
>  I am happy to work with you on this next year after I return from 
> sabbatical.  If you wish to move faster, I'm sure Paul is equally 
> enthusiastic about trying to find funds for our postdocs, and has 
> already suggested some leads to follow up on. The Neuropostdocs group 
> is very valuable to NSP and we appreciate your efforts.  I wish we 
> could do more now.
>
>  Gene
>
>  At 09:20 AM 3/16/2005, Paul Gold wrote:
>
> Christian -
>
>  In principle, this is an excellent idea.  Gene has mentioned that the
>  funding we get from the University is specifically targeted for 
> graduate
>  training and therefore not applicable to postdocs.  There are two 
> venues I
>  know of for travel fellowships via SFN.  One is through the chapters 
> - I
>  think Central Illinois (us) is one of these but, if so, we never do 
> anything
>  about it - that can receive applications and sponsor names through 
> SFN.  The
>  other is C-WIN, formerly Women in Neuroscience.  If I am right about 
> the
>  former, chapter fellowships, we should find out how it works and 
> sponsor
>  postdocs.  The latter is not limited to women, but application 
> includes an
>  essay (roughly) on the roles of women in science.  As I understand 
> it, both
>  require an essay and submission of the abstract and c.v.  The 
> announcements
>  coincide with the call for abstracts and the application date is at 
> or soon
>  after abstract deadline dates.  I'm on the C-WIN committee so should 
> get
>  details as they evolve. 
>
>  These travel awards are pretty competitive.  I think a total of about 
> 30
>  postdocs across both groups, a low number for all of SFN. 
>
>  Perhaps others will have additional ideas about funding. 
>
>  Paul
>
>
>  ------------------------------------------
>  Paul E. Gold, Ph.D.
>  Interim Director, Neuroscience Program
>  Professor, Departments of Psychology and Psychiatry, and the 
> Neuroscience
>  Program
>  Editor, Neurobiology of Learning and Memory
>  University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
>  603 East Daniel Street
>  Champaign, Illinois 61820
>  Office: (217) 244-0673; Fax: (217) 244-5876
>  e-mail: pgold at uiuc.edu
> http://www.life.uiuc.edu/neuroscience/faculty/profiles/gold.html
>
>  -----Original Message-----
>  From: Christian Beaulé [ mailto:cbeaule at mac.com]
>  Sent: Tuesday, March 15, 2005 7:36 PM
>  To: Paul Gold; Sam Beshers
>  Cc: Gene Robinson; Neuropostdocs UIUC
>  Subject: Travel Fellowships
>
>  Dr. Gold (Neuroscience Program Interim Director) Dr. Beshers 
> (Neuroscience
>  Program Coordinator)
>
>  I would like to know if you would be interested in discussing the
>  possibility that the Neuroscience Program would offer travel 
> fellowships for
>  the members of the NSP postdoctoral association. As I understand it, 
> every
>  NSP graduate students is allowed a once a year travel fellowship when
>  attending a recognized scientific conference.
>
>  As you are well aware, many postdoctoral research associates are 
> without
>  fellowships, or are with fellowships that do not provide a travel 
> allowance.
>  The costs associated with the participation to a scientific conference
>  becomes the burden of the advisor and/or postdoctoral research 
> associate. As
>  far as I know, postdoctoral research associates fall in the gray area
>  between graduate students and faculty with respect to departmental 
> travel
>  allowances. Both the advisors and the postdoctoral research 
> associates would
>  benefit from such travel fellowships.
>
>  I would greatly appreciate hearing your opinions on this topic.
>
>  Sincerely,
>
>  Christian Beaulé
>  Coordinator of NSP Postdoctoral Association
>
>
>
>  Christian Beaulé, Ph.D.
>  Postdoctoral Researcher
>  University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Department of Cell and 
> Structural
>  Biology
>  B107 Chemical and Life Sciences Laboratory MC-123
>  601 South Goodwin Avenue
>  Urbana, IL, 61801. USA
>  Work Phone: (217) 244-1842
>  Work Fax: (217) 333-4651
> http://www.life.uiuc.edu/clockworks/
>  ________________________________________________________
>  "Mais on ne fait pas d'erreurs... On dit qu'on ne fait que la vie"
>  -Daniel Bélanger
>
>
>
>
>
>
>  Gene E. Robinson
>  G. William Arends Professor of Integrative Biology
>  Director, Neuroscience Program
>  Chair, Genomics of Neural and Behavioral Plasticity Theme,
>  Institute for Genomic Biology
>  Department of Entomology
>  University of Illinois
>  505 S. Goodwin Ave., Urbana, IL  61801
>  Tel. 217-265-0309  Fax 217-244-3499
>  Website: http://www.life.uiuc.edu/robinson/
>
>
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