Virginia Tech Postdoctoral Associate Travel Award program

The Postdoctoral Travel Award program helps Virginia Tech postdoctoral associates increase their impact and professional development by presenting their scholarly work at high-impact conferences. The award provides funds to offset the cost of travel and registration for a conference or scientific meeting where they are presenting.

Proposals with substantial faculty supervisor or department cost share will be given priority.
Awards are capped at $500 for domestic travel.
Applications are reviewed on a quarterly basis and decisions are made within six weeks of application due-dates.
Postdocs may receive more than one award each year, up to a total award amount of $1,000 per individual per fiscal year.
Postdocs receiving a travel award must submit a one-page summary of the experience, the value obtained from attending, and two to three photos from the conference (i.e., the postdoc presenting, engaging with attendees/colleagues/mentors, etc.) within 30 days of the event.

Applications should include:

Short description of the research and how the conference supports the postdoc's career goals, including an outline of how the postdoc plans to engage in specific professional development events and networking opportunities at the conference
Faculty supervisor recommendation letter indicating how attending the conference will benefit the postdoc's career and professional development
Itemized budget with sources and uses of funds
Updated CV
Evidence of presentation/talk acceptance:
- Invitation
- Paper/poster/talk acceptance form
- Or other correspondence from the conference

Interested applicants may want to download a word document of the Travel Award Application to craft responses and gather the necessary details prior to applying.

All applications must be submitted via the application portal at the link below.

Yu Chen, Electrical and Computer Engineering, College of Engineering
- Presented at the Applied Power Electronics Conference 2023
Lakshmi Kumar Kunche, Chemical Engineering, College of Engineering
- Presented at the American Chemical Society Spring 2023
Paul Sands, Fralin Biomedical Research Institute
- Presented at Society for Affective Science 2023 Conference
Fangxi Wang, Chemical Engineering, College of Engineering
- Presented at the American Chemical Society Spring 2023

Sailesh Adhikari, Sustainable Biomaterials, College of Natural Resources and Environment
- Presented at 2023 International Society of Wood Science Technology Convention
Naimat Bari, Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering
- Presented at 6th Stevens Conference on Bacteria-Material Interactions
George Brooks, Fish and Wildlife Conservation, College of Natural Resources and Environment
- Presented at Joint Meeting of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists
Anh Ha, Ph.D., Biological Sciences, College of Science
- Presented at International Virus Bioinformatics Meeting 2023
Alayna Hay, Small Animal Clinical Sciences, Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine
- Presented at American Association of Immunologists Annual Conference
Saundra Johnson Austin, Engineering Education, College of Engineering
- Presented at American Society for Engineering Education
Thomas Linscott, Biological Sciences, College of Science
- Presented at Evolution 2023
Freya Olsson, Biological Sciences, College of Science
- Presented at Ecological Society of America 2023 Annual Meeting
Joao Santos, Commonwealth Cyber Initiative
- Presented at IEEE International Conference on Communications
Megan Vogt, Biomedical Sciences and Pathobiology, Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine
- Presented at American Society for Virology 2023

John Aggrey, Science, Technology, and Society, College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences
- Presented at Society for Social Studies of Science Annual Conference
Max Jones, Fish and Wildlife Conservation, College of Natural Resources and Environment
- Presented at The Wildlife Society's 30th Annual Conference
Christo Kurisummoottil Thomas, Electrical and Computer Engineering, College of Engineering
- Presented at IEEE European Signal Processing Conference
Petar Mlinaric, Mathematics, College of Science
- Presented at European Conference on Numerical Mathematics and Advanced Applications
Jessica Strickler, Biomedical Engineering and Mechanics, College of Engineering
- Presented at the Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting

Joseph Drake, Biological Sciences, College of Science
- Presented at The Wildlife Society's 2023 Annual Conference
Paul Huxley, Statistics, College of Science
- Presented at the British Ecological Society Annual Meeting
Anne Jones, Entomology, College of Agricultural and Life Sciences
- Presented at the National Entomological Society of America 2023 Meeting

Allison Andrukonis, School of Animal Sciences, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
- Presenting at the International Society for Anthrozoology Annual Conference 2024
Samar Antar, Fralin Biomedical Research Insitute
- Presenting at American Thoracic Society Annual Conference 2024
Yu Chen, Electrical and Computer Engineering, College of Engineering
- Presenting at the IEEE Applied Power Electronics Conference and Exposition 2024
Aymen Halouani, Fralin Biomedical Research Institute
- Presenting at the American Thoracic Society Annual Conference 2024
Fangxi Wang, Chemical Engineering, College of Engineering
- Presenting at the American Chemical Society Spring 2024 Meeting
Viann Marie Yomai, Fish and Wildlife Conservation, College of Natural Resources and Environment
- Presenting at the Mariana Islands Conservation Conference 2024