ATS Underreprested Trainee Development Scholarship (UTDS)
PURPOSE: The American Thoracic Society created The Underrepresented Trainee Development Scholarship (UTDS) to increase representation of underrepresented racial and ethnic groups as defined by the NIH (African American, Hispanics or Latinos, American Indians, Alaskan Natives and Pacific Islanders) in pulmonary, critical care, and sleep medicine research by providing an opportunity for trainees in U.S. based programs to attend the ATS International Conference (IC).
CRITERIA:
- Applicant must be a member of an underrepresented minority, as defined by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for the purposes of biomedical research support funding. This criterion includes individuals who self-identify as African American, Hispanic or Latino, American Indians, Alaskan Native or Pacific Islander.
- Applicant must be a first author on an abstract accepted for presentation at the ATS International Conference. The UTDS applicants may be an author of a late-breaking abstract. Late breaking abstract notification will be announced in early March, so award applicants must apply with the understanding they will not be considered for the award if their abstract is denied.
- Case Reports will not be accepted.
- Applicant must not be the recipient of another travel award at the ATS International Conference.
- Applicant must be a current trainee, at any stage of training from high school through post-doctoral fellow, at an institution in the United States. They cannot be a research assistant or laboratory tech unless CURRENTLY enrolled in a training program.
PROCEDURE:
- Applicant must submit a Completed Online Application Packet.
- Applicant must submit the following to be considered for the award:
- Completed application form.
- Letter of support from his or her mentor indicating:
- The contribution of the applicant to the research project (Basic science, clinical research and translational research)
- The impact of the award on the applicant
- The leadership potential of the applicant
- A copy of the abstract accepted for presentation at the ATS International Conference.
- The applications are scored on the following:
- Strength of the letter - applicants and mentors should be aware that this letter carries significant weight with the ATS committee reviewing applications. Letter should include at minimum
- role of the applicant in the project
- Leadership potential.
- Statement of how this would benefit the applicant
- In some instances, this letter from mentor can be the sole difference in whether an applicant receives an award or not.
- Quality of the science
- Leadership Potential of the applicant
- Applicants will be notified by end of March of their acceptance
- Strength of the letter - applicants and mentors should be aware that this letter carries significant weight with the ATS committee reviewing applications. Letter should include at minimum
VERY IMPORTANT:
If selected for this award, applicants will be notified of what additional documents need to be submitted to complete the award process. Applicant must be able to attend the ATS International Conference at least from Sunday – Monday and attend the Diversity Forum to receive the award.
