Ireland Research Travel Awards

“The Ireland tuition fellowship awards provide incentives for Masters students to pursue a research track (Plan I) instead of just doing coursework to obtain their degree (Plan II). We want to encourage more students to pursue research careers,’” explains Dean Bryan Noe, who helped initiate the awards along with Dr. Susan Rich, senior associate dean for life sciences, and Dr. Jeffrey Engler, associate dean for academic affairs. A list of the 2007 recipients is located below.

The Ireland research travel awards are strategically targeted to provide students with unique and valuable opportunities, says Engler. “The research travel scholarship, which awards a maximum of $1,000, is not designed to send someone to a professional meeting; it’s designed to enable a student to capture an educational opportunity that doesn’t exist here at UAB. These travel scholarships are highly competitive, and [this year] students applied for everything from a trip to the Library of Congress to study historic documents to taking a course on Neuroimmunological Diseases at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole. These travel awards provide elite educational experiences that enrich not only our students, but UAB as a whole.” 

Both awards are funded by an endowment established at UAB by Caroline Ireland and the late Charles W. Ireland, and by new resources allocated to the Graduate School from the Provost’s office. 

Interested students should contact their graduate program directors, who are responsible for making nominations, says Engler. Students are encouraged to check this link or the Graduate Student tab of BlazerNET for the announcement of the next competition, which will be held in March, 2008.