Charles Mims Travel Award

Application Deadline: February 1st before midnight, Pacific Time

Award Description

The Charles W. Mims Award was established in 2023 in honor of Professor Mims, a leader in the fields of mycology and plant pathology.  This award provides recipients with funds to attend an MSA meeting, and can be used for any meeting related costs.

Award Requirements

Applicants must be: 

  1. Current MSA members or must have applied for membership at the time of award application 
  2. An undergraduate or graduate student, or post-doctoral individual
  3. Plan to be a presenter of a poster or oral paper during the MSA meeting

*A focus on research incorporating electron microscopy is preferred, but not required.

MSA ecourages recipients of this award to write a brief note of thanks to Dr. Mims.  MSA will provide this information to the recipient.
 
Previous recipients are encouraged to apply for this award.
 

The Charles Mims Travel Award is to be used for attending the Mycological Society of America annual meeting. 

To see all other awards offered by the Mycological Society of America, see the MSA Awards Chart. 

Documents Required

  1. Application form. If matching funds are available from the applicant’s institution, provide in the application form an email address that the committee can use to officially verify the receipt of the award. 
  2. Abstract of paper or poster (note which one in the application form). 
  3. A curriculum vitae that includes at least (maximum 3 pages):
    • Name, contact address, email address, and phone number
    • Education and professional history
    • Previous awards and honors
    • Publications and other significant professional output (if available)
    • Service (if available)
  4. A one-page description of the research project including an explanation of how this award will further the applicant’s research/study
  5. A letter of support from the applicant’s major professor addressing the student’s abilities and potential and briefly summarizing the student’s current research. The reference letter should be sent directly by the individual writing the letter, not the applicant. 

To Apply

Complete the application. The application file should be organized in the same order as described in “Documents Required” and should not exceed more than 8 MB. The file name should contain: the last name of the applicant -“award name” Application (e.g. Smith-Mims-Applicatoin).

Confidential letters of reference should be uploaded separately to using the Letter of Recommendation Form. The letter of reference file name should contain: the last name of the applicant-“award name” referee-Letter (e.g. Smith-Mims-Jackson Letter). The application will be considered to have arrived to have arrived once all electronic files have been received by the deadline. All documents must be in English to be considered. 

Note: Applicants can expect a notification email from the Awards Committee regarding the outcome of their application within approximately 45 days of the application deadline, in time to register for the annual MSA meeting.m

Award Terms

  1. All awardees must provide a short biography (100-200 words) and a photo (if possible) within two weeks of notification from the Awards Coordinator, using the Awardee Document Submission Form. These will be requested at the appropriate time. Photos and biographies will be published in Inoculum.
  2. The award check must be deposited or cashed in 5 months. 
  3. Each award recipient is required to complete a W-9 form prior to receiving their award funds. Awardees will be contacted by the management company regarding this process. (This only applies if you have a U.S. Social Security Number).
  4. Keep copies of your W-9 and all receipts and expenses that are part of this award. These documents are important and may be necessary for tax purposes. 
  5. Each awardee will contribute a short article about their research to MSA within a year of receiving the award. Articles should be written for a general audience and may be published in Inoculum or other MSA venues (e.g. MSA website). This will be a great opportunity to promote your research to the MSA community. Articles will be requested by the Awards Coordinator at the appropriate time.
  6. A detailed final report from the recipient is due to the Awards Coordinator within two years of receiving the award. A request will be sent to the awardee at the appropriate time.
  7. Please acknowledge MSA in any products that result from this support (e.g., poster presentations, oral presentations, and scientific articles).

Diversity Statement

The MSA encourages and welcomes nominations of all individuals regardless of race and ethnicity, country of origin, sex, gender identity, religion, age, education level, socioeconomic status, marital status, parental status, physical ability, neurological differences, political affiliation, and sexual orientation. See the full MSA Diversity Statement 

Apply now!