OPE-sponsored awards include:

1. Career Enhancement Award
2. Internship Award
3. Travel Award

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Career Enhancement Award (CEA)

Each fiscal year (October 1 to September 30) four (4) awards will be given to postdoctoral scholars to enhance their professional development.

These awards will pay up to a maximum amount of $1,500 toward allowable expenses such as internships (for up to a one month period) and attending extramural courses (e.g. NIH, Cold Spring Harbor, Woods Hole, etc) to learn new skills. Funds cannot be used to travel to scientific meetings. Previous CEA recipients are welcome to apply but should state in their application the date(s) of previous awards as well as the report of the activity.

Applicants must submit:

• an updated curriculum vitae
• a short description (no longer than two pages) of the educational activity as well as the potential benefits
• a letter from the mentor endorsing the activity
• a letter of invitation from the sponsoring event (if possible)
• a budget of anticipated expenses

All applications will be reviewed and ranked according to the following criteria:

1. potential impact of the educational activity to your career development, and
2. your research productivity during your postdoctoral training as judged by publications and presentations in national and international meetings.

Successful applicants will be notified in writing. All requests for reimbursement must be submitted within 30 days of the activity. See the expenditure guidelines at the UAB Financial Affairs website for a list of reimburseable items for employee or trainee travel and the appropriate procedures: Traveling - Financial Affairs. Airline tickets may be provided in advance by the UAB travel office.

Receipt of this award does not guarantee acceptance into the desired educational activity. Similarly, acceptance into a desired educational activity does not guarantee receipt of the CEA. Incomplete applications will not be reviewed.

Internship Award

In order to enhance career opportunities available to postdoctoral scholars at UAB, the OPE provides assistance to fund internships in industrial, administrative, or academic settings within UAB or the Birmingham area. We believe that helping to provide such opportunities will add to the development and training experiences of postdoctoral scholars as they define their independent career paths.

Award Description

1. The OPE will fund one (1) award per year in the amount of $5,000 each to aid scholars in their performance of internships within or outside of UAB. Specifically, these funds will be used to purchase a percentage of a postdoctoral scholar’s effort from his/her mentor for the purposes of completing an internship.
2. Postdoctoral scholars in their second or subsequent years of postdoctoral training are eligible. Interested scholars must submit:
   • an updated CV
   • a short description (no longer than two pages) of the internship and the potential benefits to your career
   • a letter from your mentor endorsing this activity
   • a letter of invitation from collaborative organization or company
   • a description of the internship training plan and evaluation process
3. Following submission, applications will be reviewed and ranked according to:
   • potential impact of the educational activity to the career development of the applicant
   • research productivity of the applicant during their postdoctoral training as judged by publication and presentations in national and international meetings
4. Applications for this award will be accepted and reviewed on a rolling receipt basis. Internships must be completed within one year of notice of award.
5. Internships for a six-week period may be performed in an industrial, administrative, or academic setting. The length of the internship may be extended pending mentor’s approval and availability of supplementary funds from the internship host. This money is not to be used for the purpose of travel to scientific meetings. Acceptance into a desired internship does not guarantee receipt of the internship award.
6. All awardees are required to present a summary of their internship experiences during the OPE career workshop series. In addition, awardees must provide their contact information upon the completion of their postdoctoral training in order to track their career paths. All participating mentors and internship hosts are required to submit evaluations of the postdoctoral interns and provide feedback regarding the benefit of the postdoctoral internship experience to their respective laboratories/offices.

Travel Award

Four (4) travel awards in the amount of $500 each will be given to postdoctoral scholars to enhance their professional development. Allowable expenses include travel to national or international scientific meetings for the purpose of giving an oral presentation (no posters). Funds are not to be used for the purpose of attending extramural courses (e.g. NIH, Cold Spring Harbor, Woods Hole, etc) or visiting laboratories to perform collaborative studies.

To apply, you must be a postdoctoral scholar in good standing at UAB. You must submit:

• an updated CV
• a short description (no longer than two pages) of the scientific meeting or conference as well as its potential benefits to your career plans
• a letter from your mentor endorsing this travel
• a letter of invitation from the meeting or conference organizers to give an oral presentation on research-related work
• a budget of anticipated expenses

Applications should be submitted through the application link on this page to the OPE. Incomplete applications will not be reviewed. All applications will be reviewed by the office and ranked according to the following criteria:

1. potential impact of attendance at the scientific meeting or conference to the career development of the applicant; and
2. research productivity of the applicant during his/her postdoctoral training as judged by publication and presentations in national and international meetings.

Successful applicants will be notified in writing. All requests for reimbursement must be submitted within 30 days of the activity. See the expenditure guidelines at the UAB Financial Affairs website for all reimbursable items for employee or trainee travel opens a new website and the appropriate procedures. Airline tickets may be provided in advance by the UAB travel office.

Receipt of this award does not guarantee an oral presentation at the desired meeting. Similarly, an oral presentation at a desired meeting does not guarantee receipt of this travel award. Incomplete applications will not be reviewed.