August 23, 2024

Call for Applications: TRAvel for CollaborativE Research (TRACER) Grant

Priority: No
Call for Applications: TRAvel for CollaborativE Research (TRACER) Grant
 
Purpose
TRACER grants are intended for eligible Purdue Engineering doctoral students/postdocs with a promising research trajectory and interest in securing faculty positions at top Universities. The grant facilitates new research collaborations with world-leading experts at top institutions, thus broadening the grantee’s mentor/peer network for their future faculty career. The expectation is that TRACER collaboration will lead to joint publications.
 
Application Deadline: October 1, 2024, for travel from January 1, 2025, to December 31, 2025.
 
Award amount and duration: Up to $7,500 can be requested on a reimbursement basis. Eligible expenses include reasonable transportation, lodging, per diem (only while traveling to/from the host lab and not during the lab stay), etc. Funds cannot be used for student stipends or salary. These funds cannot be used for research expenses, which are expected to be covered by home and/or host labs.
 
Eligibility: Applicants must be enrolled in an Engineering PhD program or employed as a postdoctoral researcher in the College of Engineering. Graduate student applicants must have passed their preliminary exam or have their preliminary exam scheduled so that it will be completed before traveling for this collaboration.
 
Criteria:
  1. Evidence of promising research trajectory and motivation for faculty career as judged by the graduate student’s/postdoc’s application essay, CV (including a list of all published/submitted articles and conference papers), and letters of support.
  2. Strengthening a new collaboration: Purdue and external PIs should not have joint funding or have published together in the previous five years.
  3. Collaborative excellence: The extent to which the collaboration, if successful, will help grantee in their future faculty career at a top institution.
Submission materials:
Please combine the following documents into one .pdf file:
  • TRACER Application form (attached)
  • One-page statement describing (a) their research success thus far and career objectives and (b) the potential for collaborative excellence (i.e., include briefly what the collaboration will be about, excellence of collaborator’s group, synergy or complementarity with current research).
  • Letter from current Purdue research advisor(s) providing (a) evidence of why they think this PhD student/postdoc has a strong future potential to become a successful faculty at a top Engineering College/University, (b) describing why the collaboration if successful will help the grantee secure future faculty careers at top institutions, and (c) confirming that the collaboration with the external mentor is a new collaboration (see definition within Criteria section above).
  • Letter from hosting collaborator, including their (a) interest in the collaboration and (b) commitment to mentoring the student/postdoc toward future faculty careers.
  • Current curriculum vitae (CV) – not to exceed 3 pages
  • One-page budget showing expected travel and lodging expenditures, other sources of revenue (including fellowship, RA, or other employment, other travel grants, etc.), commitments (if any) from the partnering lab, and the requested travel grant amount.
Email the completed form to engrgrad@purdue.edu with the subject line “TRACER Collaborative Travel Request.”
 
Questions may be directed to Stephen McBride, Asst. Director of Grad Student Success, mcbrid44@purdue.edu
 
Stephen M. McBride, Ph.D.
Assistant Director, Graduate Student Success
College of Engineering - Graduate Education
Purdue University
Neil Armstrong Hall of Engineering
ARMS 1233
701 West Stadium Avenue
West Lafayette, IN 47907

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