School of Veterinary Medicine
Criteria for the 2010 International Externship Travel Funds
Application Deadline: February 15, 2010
SVM International Externship Travel Funds
1. FUNDING OPPORTUNITY DESCRIPTION
Program Objectives: SVM International Externship travel funds enable students to obtain a professional experience that will benefit their career development, providing that this experience is currently not available in the United States. The number of travel awards and their amount vary depending on the applicant pool and funding amount for that particular year.
Award Description: These travel funds are specifically designed for 1st and 2nd year DVM students in the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine for partial support of expenses associated with international experiences during the summer months. Students are encouraged to apply for travel support to obtain professional experience in research, clinical or both. Those students with research proposals are also encouraged to apply for Students Training in Advanced Research (STAR) funding, although there is no guarantee of funding from either program. Experiences in which students engage in clinical activities must have the on-site supervision of a veterinarian in the host country. This program is not intended to provide continued support for International Experiences, Projects, and/or Collaborations. It is encouraged that other sources of funding will be sought after developing these first contacts (example: NIH). It is highly encouraged that students would visit the International Programs website to seek recommendation of Schools of Excellence abroad http://www.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/ip/working_agreements.cfm as well as the new call for scholarships from the University of Copenhagen.
Eligibility: First- and second-year DVM students in the UCD SVM must have a minimum GPA of 3.2 at the moment of submission. A GPA lower than 3.2 will result in the application not being considered for further review and will be returned to the student. Applications from students who have not received scholarships from the School of Veterinary Medicine for International Travel will be given higher priority. Refer to the Application Instructions and General Information for general eligibility and preparation of the proposal.
Funding: A quality international experience must be a minimum of 2 weeks. Applications outlining visits shorter than 2 weeks will not be considered for review and will be returned to the student. Minimum award amount is $500 and maximum award amount is $2,500. The average funding has historically been $1,500. More cost-effective proposals that do not request the full available funding amount are encouraged. The money allocated for these international experiences can cover travel costs to the destination point, food and lodging ONLY. It does not support course fees, didactical material, or other purposes not related to the development of a veterinary career. This Committee expects to allot about $18,000 to fund 8-9 applications, depending on the quality and number of proposals received as well as the individual proposed budgets. Funding of applications received in response to this Announcement/Funding Opportunity is contingent on the availability of Campus funds for this program. Multiple applications to the same institution are discouraged because they tend to dilute the international experience of the student(s). These applications will be considered as a group, and reviewed competitively with only a small subset being awarded.
2. TIMELINE FOR SUBMISSION AND REVIEW
Proposal Submission Deadline: February 15, 2010, 5 pm PT
Peer Review: March 9, 2010
Communication of decisions: March 12, 2010
3. APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS
Proposal Components: Proposals should consist of a 2-page limit inclusive of the expected experience, and if applicable, figures, tables, and references. Proposals longer than 2 pages will be automatically rejected as well as those received after the deadline (no exceptions). The proposal must be prepared using Arial or Helvetica; font size 12 pts. Single-spaced, 1 inch margins using any kind of word processing software. The final version has to be in a PDF format using your last name.pdf to name the proposal. Once the proposal has been converted to PDF and prior to uploading the final version, check for typo changes, and, where applicable, figure and text viewing quality. Each applicant should e-mail the finalized PDF format of this application to sjkanoho@ucdavis.edubefore 5 pm PT on February 15th, 2010. LATE APPLICATIONS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED.
In order to receive the highest consideration, the proposal should address the following points:
The proposal should be as specific as possible and clearly address items 2-5. It should be clearly written, using correct grammar, spelling and tidiness.
Discussion of the quality of the experience.
How the international experience will differ from an experience that they could gain in the United States. Experiences that are equivalent to opportunities in the United States (i.e. small animal practice experience in Canada), but just in another country will be given significantly lower priority compared to other applications.
The student should describe the process by which the proposal was developed, including their initial exposure to the idea and the development of their contacts with the host institution or organization.
If it is predominantly clinical veterinary medicine, the proposal should show that the student is prepared for the experience, that the host can provide the appropriate experience, and what the experience is anticipated to be. The proposal should address the feasibility of the proposed activity in the time frame proposed.
If the experience is research based, the proposal should describe the extent to which the student will be performing research directly, the level of interaction with the host institution or organization, the quality of science at the host institution, and related issues. The proposal should address the feasibility of the proposed activity in the time frame proposed.
Description of the student's career and personal goals and how the experience will enrich and help in achieving these goals.
Description of the alternative plans if the experience is not as expected, including for example, provisions for what to do if arrangements with the host fall through, the clinical or research experience is less than what was expected, or the research doesn't work?
Given that the Committee usually grants funds to cover only partial expenses of the international experience, describe the plans to supplement the rest of the funds to carry out the trip.
Demonstration that the student is knowledgeable about the host country and institution, particularly addressing issues of safety and security and how the host institution plans to ensure this safety at the personal and professional levels.
Description of the prior preparation of the student for this experience. Some examples might include using "tapes" or other resources to gain exposure to the language prior to travel or performing literature reviews for research at the host institution.
The applicant should describe the international experience, potentially involving exposure to the culture, language, people and/or unique environmental or physical features of the area. A description of these "supplemental experiences" will allow the committee to evaluate the student's understanding of the geographic region that they will be visiting; however successful applications will demonstrate that the abroad experience will be entirely devoted to enhancing their professional development.
4. INFORMATION FOR APPLICATION REVIEW
a. Proposal Review and Selection Overview: Selections are made by the International Programs Committee based on the merit of the proposed activity and the student's qualifications. All applications will be evaluated by scientists, clinicians, and students within the SVM. The review of proposals will be performed against established criteria for determining which applications fit the best goal of this opportunity. Submissions will be compared to each other and the Committee as a whole will recommend proposals for funding based on merit, overall goals of the program, and the specific intent of the award mechanism. Each application will be reviewed by at least two reviewers, a primary and secondary reviewer. Each will assign a score to the application based on the criteria described under #3. At the meeting, the scores of each application will be averaged if they do not differ by more than 2 points. Those scores for the same application differing by more than 2 points will be discussed and rescored accordingly. Based on the averaged score, the applications will be ranked, and those below the 50th percentile or when funds are depleted (whichever comes first) will not be considered for funding. The review process is conducted confidentially to maintain the integrity of the merit based selection process.
b. Programmatic Review: The criteria described under item 3 are used by the reviewers to make funding recommendations.
