2025 Student/Early Career Participation Awards

Applications Due 4 July 2025!

CERF provides travel grants to support student and early career members attending and presenting at CERF 2025 in Richmond, Virginia, USA. Students and early career professionals in need of financial assistance to attend the 2025 conference may request travel support from CERF's William E. Odum/Scott Nixon Memorial Fund for Student Activities. Awards typically range from $150 to $300 per person. Student/Early Career Participation Awards are strictly to offset CERF 2025 expenses such as travel, accommodations, and meals. Recipients are encouraged to use this award as leverage to gain additional support from their academic department or employer.

To apply for Student/Early Career Participation Awards, simply check the box that says “I would like to apply for a student/early career award” during conference registration and fill out the form at the bottom of this page.

Student members are also encouraged to participate in the Student Volunteer Worker Program which provides a stipend towards registration fees in exchange for volunteer help at the conference. Applicants may apply for a Participation Award and take part in the Student Volunteer Worker Program, but we anticipate that students will receive support from only one source. Please note that Early Career Members are not eligible for the Student Volunteer Worker program.

Please contact Qian Zhang and David Gillett at [email protected] with questions! CERF Affiliate Societies (ACCESS, AERS, CAERS, GERS, NEERS, PERS, and SEERS) may also award conference travel money to students or early career members and we encourage applicants to apply with them too, as appropriate.

Eligibility and Application 

Deadline to apply for the participation awards is 4 July 2025. Participation award recipients will be notified if they have been selected by 15 August 2025. To qualify for a Student/Early Career Participation Award, an applicant must meet all of the following criteria:

  • Be enrolled at a university or college for the 2025 spring, summer, or fall semester (Students).
  • Have graduated in a related science degree program any time after November 2020 AND be willing to serve as a judge for student presentation awards (Early Career).
  • Be a CERF member in good standing when you apply.
  • Be registered for the CERF 2025 conference.
  • Agree to fill out a conference evaluation form, including your observations and recommendations about student-related activities for future CERF conferences.

Applicants are highly encouraged, but not required, to submit an abstract to give an oral or poster presentation at the conference. Students or early career members presenting at the conference will be given priority. We will also prioritize students or early career members who have not received CERF travel awards in the past, but we encourage ALL eligible students or early career members to apply!

Apply Today

*Students, Recent Graduates, & Early Career: If you are a full-time undergraduate, graduate student, or are within 1 year of graduation while actively seeking employment, or if you graduated within the past five years are all eligible to apply.