PhD assistantships: plant virus biodiversity and other areas

[Michael W Palmer]

Dear Taxacom Folks,
Please address general inquiries about the program to the contacts at the 
end of this announcement, not to me.   If you have questions about the plant virus focus, I'd be happy to try 
to find an answer for you.  We are certainly interested in field 
biologists as well as lab biologists.   Apologies for cross-posting.
---Mike
Michael W. Palmer
Botany Dept. OSU
104 LSE   Stillwater OK 74078 USA
405-744-7717  fax:405-744-7074
 http://ecology.okstate.edu/
 http://www.okstate.edu/artsci/botany/
carex at okstate.edu


NSF EPSCoR Scholars Program

Through funding from the National Science Foundation Research 
Infrastructure Improvement Award (RIIA), Oklahoma EPSCoR has established 
the NSF EPSCoR Scholars Program to help recruit top graduate students to 
Oklahoma.  Funds are available to provide support for new graduate 
students statewide.  Students entering Ph.D. programs at Oklahoma 
universities in the summer or fall of 2005 will be eligible to participate 
in this Program.  Each selected student participant will receive a stipend 
of $5,000 paid over the first 12 months in the graduate program.  This 
stipend is payable in addition to the regular stipend paid by the host 
institution.  Preference will be given to students entering graduate 
programs in the two RIIA theme areas of plant virus biodiversity & ecology 
and nanotechnology but exceptional students in other science and 
engineering disciplines will also be considered.  Although Oklahoma EPSCoR 
will award the stipend for one year only, renewal for additional years may 
be possible, at the host institution's expense, depending on the student's 
progress and on the availability of funds.

In order to be considered for participation in the NSF EPSCoR Scholars 
Program, students and host institutions must meet the following 
eligibility criteria:

§       Students must have outstanding academic credentials, including college 
grades, Graduate Record Examination (GRE) scores, letters of reference and 
commitment to a career in science.
§       Host institutions must have offered student participants acceptance into 
their Ph.D. program with a commitment to a full stipend (e.g. teaching 
assistantship or graduate research assistantship or equivalent) at the 
maximum amount generally offered by the institution plus a full tuition 
waiver, conditional only upon satisfactory academic performance.

Applications from underrepresented minorities and women are strongly 
encouraged.  Applications will be considered expeditiously as they are 
submitted.  In order to be considered for participation, host institutions 
must submit the following information: 

§       Complete set of student credentials including transcripts, GRE scores, 
letters of reference and a statement of career goals.
§       Evidence of institutional commitment fulfilling the eligibility criteria 
listed above.
§       A letter from the department chair or the institution's Vice President for 
Research or equivalent, Graduate Dean or Graduate Program Director 
indicating why the student should be considered for the NSF EPSCoR 
Scholars Program.

Please send this information to Ms. Sasha Smith, Oklahoma State Regents 
for Higher Education, 655 Research Parkway, Suite 200, Oklahoma City, OK 
73104; Phone: 405.225.9419, Fax: 405.225.9230, Email: ssmith at osrhe.edu. For questions or if additional information is required, please contact 
Dr. Frank Waxman, Oklahoma EPSCoR Director, at 405-225-9459 (fwaxman at osrhe.edu).