John W. Rippon Research Award

John W. Rippon Research Award

Application Deadline: February 15th before midnight, Pacific Time

The John W. Rippon Research Award supports graduate student research on medically important

2021 John Rippon Graduate Research Awardee, Spenser Babb-Biernacki

fungi and is open to M.S. and Ph.D. degree students. Proposals should address innovative approaches to studying medically important fungi, including those that cause mycoses, mycotoxicosis, mycoallergies, and mycetismus. Studies may be clinical in nature or may encompass various research areas, such as genetics, systematics, genomics, ecology, distribution, epidemiology, mechanisms of pathogenicity, life cycles, or other appropriate areas, as long as the emphasis of the study addresses the medical importance of the fungus. 

The John W. Rippon Research Award is administered by the Research Awards Committee.

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

Award Requirements

  1. Applicants must be students working on their Masters or PhD degree. 
  2. Student must be a current member of the MSA or must have applied for membership by the time of the award application.

Documents Required

  1. Application form
  2. A curriculum vitae that includes at least (maximum 3 pages):
    • Name, contact address, email address, and phone number
    • Education and professional history (including career plans and a paragraph regarding training for the proposed work)
    • Previous awards and honors
    • Publications and other significant professional output (if available)
    • Service (if available)
  3. A detailed plan of study. The text of this plan of study must be no longer than 5 pages, including tables, figures, and references. Applications that include proposals exceeding the 5-page limit will not be considered. The text of this proposal should be single-spaced and printed in regular sized font (10cpi or 12 point) with one-inch margins on all sides. Section headings and double spacing between paragraphs may be used to make your proposal easier to read. The proposal must include:
    • Abstract (200-250 words)
    • Introduction: explains what you want to do
    • Objectives
    • Methods: demonstrates that the project is feasible and describes how the study will be conducted
    • Significance and preliminary results, if available (be concise in your explanation) include description of how the proposed research will benefit the field of medical mycology. 
    • Budget and budget justification, include in this section a timeline to complete the proposal (generally one year) and a plan for dissemination of results. 
    • References
  4. One letter of support from the major professor. The reference letter should be sent directly by the individual writing the letter, not the applicant. 

To Apply

Complete an application, being sure to include items 1-3 listed above. 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-Rippon Application).

Confidential letters of reference should be sent separately to: msafungi@reesgroupinc.com. The letter of reference file name should contain: the last name of the applicant-award name-referee letter (e.g. Smith-Rippon-Jackson Letter). The application will be considered 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 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. We expect all award winners to make every effort to attend the annual meeting and encourage all applicants to concurrently apply for an MSA Travel Award in support of that. Presence at the MSA meeting to accept the award gives awardees the opportunity to meet the mycological community, and it gives MSA members an opportunity to meet the awardees.

Award Terms

Indirect cost is not allowed on MSA awards.

  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 within 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 Award

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!

See a list of past John W. Rippon Research Awardees