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.
Program Details
- Proposals with substantial faculty supervisor or department cost share will be given priority.
- Awards are capped at $500 for domestic travel and $1,000 for international travel.
- Postdocs receiving a travel award will acknowledge support from the Virginia Tech Office of Research and Innovation in their conference presentation or poster and include an appropriate Virginia Tech logo on their presentation materials (this may either be the general university logo, Research and Innovation logo, or that of their college/department/unit, as appropriate). Access approved logos here.
- Applications are reviewed on a quarterly basis and decisions are made within six weeks of application due-dates.
- 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 (up-to-2 pages) indicating:
- The specific role the postdoc played in the research being presented.
- How the postdoc presenting this research advances awareness of Virginia Tech and the faculty member's research group.
- 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
2025 Due Dates
- Jan. 27
- Apr. 28
- July 28
- Oct. 27
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.
1st Quarter Awardees
- Yu Chen, Electrical and Computer Engineering, College of Engineering
- Presented at the Applied Power Electronics Conference 2023
- Presented at the Applied Power Electronics Conference 2023
- Lakshmi Kumar Kunche, Chemical Engineering, College of Engineering
- Presented at the American Chemical Society Spring 2023
- 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
2nd Quarter Awardees
- 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, 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
3rd Quarter Awardees
- John Aggrey, Science, Technology, and Society, College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences
- Presented at Society for Social Studies of Science Annual Conference
- 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
- 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
4th Quarter Awardees
- 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
1st Quarter Awardees
- Allison Andrukonis, School of Animal Sciences, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
- Presenting at the International Society for Anthrozoology Annual Conference 2024
- Presenting at the International Society for Anthrozoology Annual Conference 2024
- Samar Antar, Fralin Biomedical Research Insitute
- Presenting at American Thoracic Society Annual Conference 2024
- Presenting at American Thoracic Society Annual Conference 2024
- Yu Chen, Electrical and Computer Engineering, College of Engineering
- Presented at the IEEE Applied Power Electronics Conference and Exposition 2024
- Presented 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
- Presenting at the American Thoracic Society Annual Conference 2024
- Fangxi Wang, Chemical Engineering, College of Engineering
- Presented at the American Chemical Society Spring 2024 Meeting
- Presented at the American Chemical Society Spring 2024 Meeting
- Viann Marie Yomai, Fish and Wildlife Conservation, College of Natural Resources and Environment
- Presented at the Mariana Islands Conservation Conference 2024
- Presented at the Mariana Islands Conservation Conference 2024
2nd Quarter Awardees
- Katherine Gorman, Fish and Wildlife Conservation, College of Natural Resources and Environment
- Presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Society of Mammalogists
- Max Heldman, Mathematics, College of Science
- Presented at the Korean Society for Mathematical Biology and the Society for Mathematical Biology Annual Meeting
- Mary Lofton, Biological Sciences, College of Science
- Presented at the Ecologocial Forecasting Initiative
- Lindsay Miles, Entomology, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
- Presented at the Joint Congress on Evoluntionary Biology
- Sanjok Poudel, School of Plant and Environmental Sciences, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
- Presented at the Association of Nepalese Agricultural Professionals Biennial Scientific International Conference
- Presented at the Association of Nepalese Agricultural Professionals Biennial Scientific International Conference
- Md Rasheduzzaman, Population Health Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine
- Presented at Advancing Health Equity in Rural Communities Conference
- Megan Vogt, Biomedical Sciences and Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine
- Presented at American Society for Virology Annual Meeting
- Fangchi Yan, Mathematics, College of Science
- Presented at the Society for Industiral and Applied Mathematics Conference on Nonlinear Waves and Coherent Structures
- Qingyu Ye, Chemistry, College of Science
- Presented at Gordon Research Conference on Electron Donor-Acceptor Interactions
- Presented at Gordon Research Conference on Electron Donor-Acceptor Interactions
3rd Quarter Awardees
- Joseph Antonides, Mathematics, College of Science
- Presenting at the North American Chapter of the International Group for Psychology of Mathematics Education
- Kyle Bekelja, Entomology, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
- Presenting at the Entomological Society of America National Meeting
- Joseph Drake, Biological Sciences, College of Science
- Presenting at the Annual Meeting of the Ecological Society of America
- Kristin Knight, Chemistry, College of Science
- Presenting at the American Chemical Society Conference
- Kelley Langhans, Fish and Wildlife Conservation, College of Natural Resources and Environment
- Presenting at the American Ornithological Society Annual Meeting
- Penghui Zhao, Biological Systems Engineering, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
- Presenting at the Biomedical Engineering Society Annual Meeting
4th Quarter Awardees
- Max Jones, Fish and Wildlife Conservation, College of Natural Resources and Environment
- Presenting at the Southeastern Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies Annual Conference
- Anna Perez-Umphrey, Biological Sciences, College of Science
- Presenting at the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology
- Xiaobo Wu, Fralin Biomedical Research Institute
- Presenting at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions
1st Quarter Awardees
- Debaditya Biswas, Physics, College of Science
- Presenting at the Global Physics Summit 2025
- Samsul Mahmood, Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering
- Presenting at Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers 2025 Annual Meeting and Exhibition
- Alan McLucas, Psychology, College of Science
- Presenting at International Society for Autism Research Annual Meeting 2025
- Mark Renton, Fralin Biomedical Research Institute
- Presenting at the American Heart Association's Vascular Discovery 2025
- Presenting at the American Heart Association's Vascular Discovery 2025
- Kemal Tezgin, Physics, College of Science
- Presenting at Physics Opportunities at an Electron-Ion Collider Meeting
- Ping-Hsuan Tsai, Mathematics, College of Science
- Presenting at the 2025 SIAM Conference on Computational Science and Engineering
- Presenting at the 2025 SIAM Conference on Computational Science and Engineering