Request for Information

Graduate Student Travel Grants

The Consortium of Universities for the Advancement of Hydrologic Science, Inc. is considering requesting support for graduate student grants as part of its renewal proposal to the National Science Foundation. The objective of these grants is to enrich the graduate training of hydrologists by exposing them to significantly different field environments than their primary study site or to provide an opportunity to work with research groups using significantly different modeling approaches. The intent is to enhance communication among different parts of the hydrologic science community and to improve the appreciation for different field settings and for different approaches to hydrologic science issues.

Grants would provide travel support for a graduate student to make an extended visit (1 to 3 months) to a field site or with a research group as part of a masters or PhD program. A stipend of up to $5000 would be offered to defray the expense of the visit. Grants would be awarded through an application process. Evaluation criteria would include how different the proposed location or group is to the home institution and the approach for integrating this experience into the candidate's graduate research.

The purpose of this RFI is to assess the demand for such travel grants. Is the concept sound and important enough to warrant funding? Is the level of funding appropriate? We need to hear from both current graduate students and graduate advisors to determine whether this project should be included in the CUAHSI renewal grant.

Please provide the indicated information on the email form at exdir@cuahsi.org no later than July 2, 2007. If this project is included in the renewal proposal and the proposal is successful, this project would begin in August, 2008.

Please contact Rick Hooper (exdir@cuahsi.org or 202-777-7306) with any questions.