SLAS Graduate Education Fellowship Grant

This SLAS grant facilitates educational opportunities for outstanding students pursuing graduate degrees related to life sciences R&D. This program helps to realize a fundamental tenet of SLAS’s mission: to advance the fields of laboratory science and technology by nurturing the next generation of professional scientists.

SLAS will award one grant (up to $50,000) per year, for a maximum of two years, to qualified educational institutions on behalf of deserving students enrolled in a graduate program at that institution.

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SLAS Graduate Education Fellowship Grant Timeline

June 23, 2023: Applications Open
November 6, 2023: Application Deadline

January 2024: 2023 Awardee Announced
February 2024: 2023 Award Distributed 

Read or Hear More About the Previous Grant Recipients

2023 winner: Samuel Berryman, Ph.D. candidate

2022 winner: Benjamin David, Ph.D. candidate

2021 winner: David McIntyre, Ph.D. candidate

2020 winner: Ulri Nicole Lee, Ph.D. candidate  

2019 winner: Carine Nemr, Ph.D. 

The student’s Primary Research Investigator or Mentor (or someone at the educational institution) will need to apply on behalf of the student. As part of the application process, the student will be asked to provide detailed information on their research project. Students – share this link to apply!

Eligibility Requirements

Program eligibility is limited to educational organizations and academic institutions that offer graduate degree programs related to quantitative biosciences and/or life sciences R&D. Student candidates are not eligible to apply for these Grants directly. The application must come from the candidate student’s academic institution.

Information for Applicant Educational Organizations

An educational organization may apply for a Grant of up to $50,000.00 USD per year, per student, for two (2) consecutive years. If awarded a Grant, an educational organization must:

  • pay at least seventy percent (70%) of the Grant to the student as a stipend;
  • pay the student the stipend in equal monthly installments;
  • use no more than thirty percent (30%) of the Grant for a cost-of-education allowance, which may be used to cover such non-tuition fees as student health insurance, activity and service fees; and
  • for each year covered by the Grant, exempt the student from paying tuition and other fees normally charged to students enrolled in similar graduate degree programs at the educational organization, unless the tuition and other fees are optional or will be refunded.

The organization must NOT deduct facilities and administration overhead fees from the Grant upon receipt.

There is no limitation on the number of Grants for which an otherwise eligible organization may apply and be awarded.

While an Eligible Organization may submit multiple applications for a single student, typically once an Eligible Organization has been awarded a Grant for a particular student, the Eligible Organization will not be awarded a second Grant for that same student.

Information for Students Seeking Grants

Students looking to benefit from a Grant from this SLAS program must:

  • be in a graduate degree program related to quantitative biosciences and/or life sciences R&D administered by the educational organization;
  • as part of the graduate degree program conduct research related to quantitative biosciences and/or life sciences; and
  • produce, and provide to the SLAS, 1) an original paper based on the student’s graduate degree research suitable for publication in one of SLAS’s two peer reviewed scientific journals, 2) submit a podium presentation abstract for the Society’s annual conference, and 3) if selected, make that presentation.

Ineligibility

Members of the SLAS Education Fellowship Grant Review Panel, SLAS Awards and Grant Advisory Committee and the SLAS Board of Directors are not eligible to apply for this grant on behalf of a student within their research group or organization. Committee members must recuse themselves from evaluating applications from organizations/institutions with which they are affiliated.

Application Process

Applications are reviewed by the SLAS Professional Team for completeness, and then sent to the SLAS Education Fellowship Grant Panel and Awards and Grants Advisory Committee for final selection. Grants are awarded based on collective assessment of these committees and how they determine the most effective way to advance SLAS’s Exempt Purpose and the Program’s Objectives.

To begin preparations for the application process, please be prepared with all necessary materials prior to submission. You can begin the application process without all of these documents but will not be able to submit until they are all attached to the application.

In order to submit an application for this Grant, you will need:

  • Copy of the student's current CV or resume

  • Detailed budget showing how the Institution would expend the Grant Request

  • If your university is NOT found on this list, you will be asked to provide copies of the Institution's incorporating or equivalent organizing documents.

  • If the Institution is an institution formed in the United States and exempt from federal income tax pursuant to IRC §501(c)(3), a copy of the Institution's exemption determination letter from the Internal Revenue Service.

Mandatory Factors for Grant Applicant Student Candidates

Each of the following factors must be met before an applicant may be recommended for a Grant by the SLAS Education Fellowship Grant Review Panel (GRP):

  • The Application is timely, complete, and complies with the other Application requirements;

  • The applicant, the Student, and all persons responsible for overseeing the use of Grant (if awarded) for the applicant do not appear in the Specially Designated Nationals List;

  • The applicant is a legally formed entity under the laws of the United States, or a foreign country;

  • The applicant is an educational organization providing graduate degree programs related to quantitative biosciences and/or life sciences R&D;

  • If awarded a Grant, the applicant agrees it must: (i) pay at least seventy percent (70%) of the Grant to the Student as a stipend; (ii) pay the student the stipend in equal monthly installments; (iii) use no more than thirty percent (30%) of the Grant for a cost-of-education allowance, which may be used to cover such non-tuition fees as student health insurance, activity and service fees; and (iv) for each year covered by the Grant, exempt the student from paying tuition and other fees normally charged to students enrolled in similar graduate degree programs at the educational organization, unless the tuition and other fees are optional or will be refunded;

  • The graduate student who would benefit from the Grant, if awarded, (i.e., the “Student”) will:
    • be in a graduate degree program related to quantitative biosciences and/or life sciences R&D administered by the applicant;
    • as part of the graduate degree program conduct research, at the applicant or another organization engaged in research, related to quantitative biosciences and/or life sciences R&D; and
    • produce, and provide to the SLAS, an original paper based on the student’s graduate degree research suitable for publication in one of SLAS’s scientific journals and a license and publicity release acceptable to SLAS.

  • The applicant demonstrates the ability to advance the Program’s Objectives, if awarded a Grant;

  • The applicant demonstrates the ability to protect the Grant from diversion to purposes other than funding the student’s graduate degree tuition, stipend, and research;

  • Awarding the applicant a Grant advances the Exempt Purpose of the SLAS and the Program’s Objectives;

  • The applicant certifies that: (i) the applicant; (ii) the Student; and (iii) all persons responsible for overseeing the use of the Grant (if awarded) for the applicant presently, and in the future, will comply with all laws, statutes, and regulations restricting U.S. persons from dealing with any individuals, entities or groups subject to OFAC sanctions, and do not deal with any individuals, entities, or groups subject to OFAC sanctions, or any other persons known to support terrorism, or to have violated OFAC sanctions;

  • SLAS staff, GRP, and AGAC are familiar with the applicant and are confident the applicant is not involved in terrorism and the applicant will ensure a Grant, (if awarded), will only be used consistent with the Program’s Objectives and the purposes for which the Grant is awarded; and

  • The applicant agrees it will execute a Fellowship Grant Agreement in the form specified by SLAS, if awarded a Grant.

Questions regarding the SLAS Graduate Education Fellowship Grant Program should be directed to Stephanie Salerno, Ph.D., Program Coordinator, +1-630-256-7527, ext. 120.

Past Grant Recipients

 

Benjamin David, Ph.D.-Cand.

2022 Fellowship Grant winner

University of Michigan

Ann Arbor, MI

USA


Read More

 

David McIntrye, Ph.D.-Cand.

2021 Fellowship Grant winner

Boston University

Boston, MA

USA


Read More in SLAS ELN

 
 

Ulri Nicole Lee, Ph.D.-Cand.

2020 Fellowship Grant winner

University of Washington

Seattle, WA

USA


Read More in SLAS ELN

 

Carine Nemr, Ph.D.-Cand.

2019 Fellowship Grant winner

University of Toronto

Toronto, ON

Canada


Read more in SLAS ELN

 

Santosh Paidi, Ph.D.

2018 Fellowship Grant winner

Johns Hopkins University Whiting School of Engineering

Baltimore, MD

USA


Read more in SLAS ELN

 

Julea Vlassakis, D.Phil.

2017 Fellowship Grant winner

University of California Berkeley

Berkeley, CA

USA


Learn more

 
 

Erik Werner, Ph.D.

2016 Fellowship Grant winner

University of California Irvine

Irvine, CA

USA


Read more in SLAS ELN