Robert O'Shea Student Travel Award

Established in 2005 to honor Robert O’Shea, PhD, associate professor emeritus and first director of graduate studies in the Department of Epidemiology and Environmental Health from 1977 to 1997.

Overview Application Checklist

Since funds for student travel are limited, students are highly encouraged to submit for approval of the Robert O’Shea Travel Award prior to submitting an abstract to a conference.

  • Applicants should be current EEH PhD or MS students, with PhD students having successfully passed their preliminary examinations and MS students must be in the final year of their program.
  • Funds are limited to support students who have an accepted presentation (poster or oral presentation) at a meeting. Research presented at the meeting must be directly related to the applicant’s EEH dissertation/thesis.
  • Ideally, submissions for approval of the Robert O’Shea Travel Award should occur prior to abstract deadline, however, submission can occur after the abstract is submitted but before travel to the conference. Submission for this travel award after the abstract presentation has occurred is not allowed.
  • Students can apply for the Robert O’Shea Travel Award for a conference occurring up to 6 months after graduation. Applications must be submitted prior to degree conferral and include a clear justification for the use of travel funds for a post-graduation conference.
  • PhD students are eligible to receive the award up to twice, and MS students may receive it once.

Please note that receipt of the award is contingent on both the quality of scientific work and availability of departmental funds. Rules for abstract submission described above apply.

Important: Students who receive the award will be provided with information regarding UB travel guidelines and the travel reimbursement process by an EEH department administrator, which includes obtaining official pre-approval for travel BEFORE making travel arrangements. It is the awardee’s responsibility to familiarize themselves with the policies and processes, receive travel pre-approval, and submit travel expenses for reimbursement. The department cannot cover items such as tax, liquor or upgrades (hotel, air, transportation). Failure to follow travel guidelines may result in expenses not being reimbursed. Questions regarding travel guidelines should be directed to an EEH department administrator prior to incurring expenses.

Funding is NOT guaranteed and depends on availability of funds in the Department and the number of requests received in any one year.