Student Travel Award – CAWS – Council of Australasian Weed Societies

Applications are invited from students to attend national or international conferences, or for specific overseas study tours of a short duration. The award is made available annually, or less frequently depending on the standard of the applications.

This award is made to undergraduate, Master, PhD or other postgraduate students, or those who have completed their studies in the previous twelve months at the date of application. The early career travel award is available for those who have completed their studies less recently. Those studying in the fields of agriculture, botany, biology, ecology, horticulture and forestry or related subjects, with some focus on weed science are encouraged to apply. The award is open to anyone residing in Australia or New Zealand, but members of Societies affiliated with CAWS may be given preference. The committee may at its discretion award more than one award for each category.

The selection committee will mainly take into consideration the merits of the applicant and application, though some consideration may also be given to ensuring an equitable distribution of awards across Australasia. Current members of the executive committee of CAWS are eligible to apply, assuming they meet the criteria and are not involved with the selection process.

The value of this award is up to $3,000 per annum. This is not expected to cover the total cost of the conference or study tour being undertaken. It will therefore be necessary for an applicant to ensure that other funding is available. Applicants attending conferences are expected to give a presentation (oral paper or poster) at the conference and to submit an abstract of their paper with their application.

On return, successful applicants are expected to send a written report about their experiences to the CAWS secretary who will organise for the report to be placed on the CAWS website. The report will also be circulated by the secretary to CAWS committee members who may wish to use some or all of the report in their local society newsletters.

A completed application form should be submitted to the CAWS secretary by 1st March.

Please note that some member societies have travel awards available as well which applicants may wish to consider if they belong to the appropriate society. Click for links to travel regulations available from New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia and New Zealand.