Eligible: US applicants; Deadline for all application parts: 3 March 2022

1. NAASC have had diversifying awards for the annual Arabidopsis conference (ICAR) in place since 2004, and have been thinking about this and planning around DEI, particularly with respect to race and ethnicity, career stage, and gender.
2. We have made progress over the years, particularly with our Inclusivity Scholars Program (ISP, formerly Under-Represented Minority program). The valuable input we’ve received from ISP awardees via annual surveys has pushed us to evolve the program, such as ~2010 when we started focusing on developing cohorts to extend beyond simply “access” to ICARs. Based on feedback in 2015 we began coordinating cohort travel when the ICAR is held outside the US to ensure that awardees arrive with a community to participate with in conference activities. We’ve also added informal mentoring with ISP awardees and NAASC members, as well as other prominent scientists, and develop an ISP-specific program at each ICAR with more activities at NAASC-led ICARs.
3. When we organized ICAR 2020/2021 we initiated a number of new ideas focused on DEI. If you are interested to learn of our recent DEI efforts, please click this link for a pdf  summary NAASCSummaryNewICAR2021Approaches.
4. We still have much work to do to promote and enable a just and equitable plant science community. NAASC is committed to promoting a global plant sciences community that reflects the true diversity of all its members. We constantly seek to learn and improve in service to our community. We invite your input and suggestions to help us learn and grow. You can contact us at [email protected]

The North American Arabidopsis Steering Committee (NAASC) invites applications from US plant scientists in 3 categories to participate in the International Conference on Arabidopsis Research (ICAR) taking place June 20-24 in Belfast, Ireland.

Award eligibility is limited by the funder to US citizens or US Permanent residents that live and work in the US

3 awards categories

  • Category 1: IN-PERSON* Early Career Researcher (ECR) partial participation awards to US plant biologists that are students, postdocs in postdoc title, or pre-tenure junior faculty (and that are NOT a member of the groups under-represented in US science listed in 2)
    • We will award up to 15 awards of $1,000 each, as reimbursements, for eligible ICAR costs; receipts must be submitted e.g. registration, lodging, travel, following NSF rules. Additional information will be sent to selected awardees.
    • Ready to apply for a Category 1 award? Instructions here.
  • Category 2: IN-PERSON* Inclusivity Scholars Program (ISP) full funding awards to US plant biologists that are Native/African/Latinx American of Central/South American descent only; OR plant biology faculty at HBCU, 1890, Black-serving institution in the US and that mentor, teach, support members of under-represented groups.
    • We will award up to 10 full funding awards to include: coordinated registration, economy and travel, following NSF rules. Full details will be sent to selected awardees who will join the NAASC ISP Cohort for coordinated activities and travel. The vast majority of ISP participation costs will be paid up-front by NAASC.
    • Ready to apply for a Category 2 award? Instructions here.
  • Category 3: VIRTUAL/ONLINE Participation Awards (VOPA) covering virtual registration fee *only* for US plant biologists that qualify in either/both of categories 1 or 2, and/or have financial need, and wish to participate virtually. Reimbursement requires submission of registration receipt to support actual costs paid. Registration fees are ~$120- $240 USD (depending on currency exchange at time of purchase) for early career and regular applicants, respectively. VOPA applicants do not need to submit a letter of support.
    • Ready to apply for a Category 3 award? Instructions here.

Ready to apply? Full instructions here

*IN-PERSON awardees that switch to virtual attendance will have a maximum award amount equal to the cost of online registration. Category 1 & 2, in-person awardees, must inform NAASC of any switch to virtual attendance by Monday 23 May, 2022, ~ 1 month prior to ICAR start, or full award is forfeit.

Community support are provided  by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. Award #1518280. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.