College of Natural Sciences, Forestry, and Agriculture

Information about Graduate Research Awards

All graduate students in the College of Natural Sciences, Forestry, and Agriculture are eligible for the Graduate Research Excellence Award.

To be eligible for the Dow, Griffee, or Clements awards, a graduate student’s thesis or dissertation research must be related to the goals and objectives of an approved project of the Maine Agricultural and Forest Experiment Station. The Clements award also requires training and research in disciplines related to Maine agriculture. Detailed descriptions of the four awards may be found below.

For all awards, applicants must have student status in December of the academic year they apply for awards. Also, to receive the Dow, Griffee, or Clements awards applicants must have a student status in the following spring semester to receive associated scholarship funds and must be available to present research accomplishments during the week of January 30 (specific dates TBD). To be considered and be competitive for these awards, students must have made significant progress on their thesis or dissertation work and have substantial results and other accomplishments to report. Therefore, M.S. degree candidates must be within one year of their expected graduate date at the time of application. Ph.D. degree candidates must be within two years of their expected graduation date at the time of application. Preference will be given to students that are within one year of graduation. 

Applicants for research awards should be near the end of their program of study and have results from their thesis or dissertation research to present as part of the competition.

There is a common application for the four research awards. Applicants do not need to apply for a specific award. The Graduate Awards Committee will make determinations on applicant eligibility for specific awards during the selection process.

Complete applications for the research awards must be submitted as one PDF by 4:30 p.m. on the due date. Electronic submissions should be sent to um.nsfaresearch@maine.edu. Late applications will not be accepted, and it is the responsibility of the applicant to ensure that all required materials are submitted by the deadline.

In mid January, the Graduate Awards Committee will select a set of finalists for the four research awards and invite those students to give a research presentation to the Committee. Presentations will be open to all faculty and students. The committee will select award recipients based on application materials, presentations, and selection criteria outlined in the award descriptions. The committee will only consider the achievements of an applicant during their current program of study at the University of Maine.

Application Requirements

Applications require the following:

1. Completed Outstanding Graduate Student Research Awards Competition application form.
2. Complete (unofficial) transcripts of the applicant’s UM graduate course work.
3. An abstract of 250 words or less by the applicant on his/her thesis or dissertation research and its potential impacts. The abstract should emphasize the objectives, specific results and conclusions of the research.  Other information will be expected in the presentation of the research project in March (see application form).
4. A statement of at least 250 words from the applicant describing his/her future plans (see application form).
5. Research accomplishments (see application form).
6. A letter of nomination/recommendation from the applicant’s graduate advisor, department chair, school director, or graduate program coordinator. The letter should evaluate the applicant’s progress to date toward his/her degree, the quality and potential impact of the applicant’s research, and the potential for the applicant to make significant contributions in his/her career. A maximum of two additional letters of support may be submitted.
7. Submit as one PDF file name: lastnameRESEARCHAWARDS.pdf

Instructions for the Presentations

The Graduate Student Awards Selection Committee includes faculty members from many different scientific disciplines in the college. And you can expect other faculty and students in attendance to have equally diverse backgrounds. One of your challenges will be to develop a presentation that balances the need to describe your work accurately and in depth with the need for effective communication to an audience with diverse scientific backgrounds. A talk too dominated by highly discipline-specific language that is not well explained will detract from your overall presentation. Several of the requirements below are in place to keep the presentations on schedule. Please note these requirements carefully.

1. Presentations will run via Zoom.  
2. It is important that your presentation stay within the time limits and begin on time. Your presentation must not be longer than 12 minutes. Running over your time can affect the evaluation of your presentation.
3. Please join the Zoom meeting during the break prior to your presentation to check in. We encourage you to listen to all the presentations if you are able to.