Predoctoral awards descriptions

The Department of Pharmacology generally may present four awards each year. Two are in honor of Dr. Norman Weiner, who was Chairman of the Department for many years and was the original Principal Investigator of the Department's NIH TrainingGrant; a third is in honor of Dr. Thomas V. Dunwiddie; and the fourth is in honor of Dr. Thomas Langan, whose generous gift to the Department makes the award possible. The purpose of the research award program is both to recognize and to encourage excellence in the pursuit of the PhD in Pharmaology and beyond, in the student's eventual independent career.

Travel Awards

  1. The Department of Pharmacology Student Travel Award.

    To qualify for one of these awards, a student must

    1. apply and present at the meeting that he or she wishes to attend,
    2. provide a copy of the related abstract to the GTC,
    3. write a paragraph justifying why the travel award is beneficial to his or her career,
    4. pursue any other funding sources available (if, for instance, the meeting organizers offer any travel awards),
    5. demonstrate commensurate academic merit (at the discretion of the GTC).

    The GTC may award up to five $700 awards each year, and a log will be kept of students receiving these awards. Individual students may receive this award more than once.

  2. Dunwiddie Fellowship

    The Dunwiddie Fellowship may be awarded annually to any predoctoral student at the UCDHSC carrying out research in the broad field of neuropharmacology. The Fellowship is intended to be used to cover, at least in part, the costs of tuition, fees and travel for scientific courses such as those offered at Cold Spring Harbor or Woods Hole, or for attendance at various other advanced courses or meetings (i.e., Gordon or Keystone Conferences) where attendance is subject to a competitive selection process undertaken by the course or meeting organizers. The Fellowship cannot be used to support attendance at large society meetings, such as the Annual Meeting of the Society for Neuroscience. Interest accrued on the principal of the Dunwiddie Fellowship Fund endowment will be used to cover the Fellowship award costs. The Graduate Training Committee of the Department of Pharmacology will review applications and the Fellowship will be awarded o the applicant demonstrating the highest level of achievement in neuropharmacological research. If no candidate with suitably impressive credentials applies for the Fellowship, no award will be made in that year.

  3. Langan Travel Award

    The Langan Travel Award is made possible by a generous gift from Dr. Thomas Langan, emeritus Professor in the Department of Pharmacology. It may be awarded annually to any predoctoral student at the UCDHSC carrying out research in the field of cell signaling. The Fellowship is intended to be used to cover, at least in part, the costs of tuition, fees and travel for scientific courses or for attendance at various other advanced courses or meetings where attendance is subect to a competitive selection process undertaken by the course or meeting organizers. The Fellowship should not be used to support attendance at National or International Society meetings. The Graduate Training Committee of the Department of Pharmacology will review applications and the Fellowship will be awarded o the applicant demonstrating the highest level of achievement in research into cell signaling. If no candidate with suitably impressive credentials applies for the Fellowship, no award will be made in that year.

Academic and Research Awards

The Norman Weiner Award for Academic Excellence may be presented to any student enrolled in the Department of Pharmacology, including BSP or MD/PhD students who ultimately matriculate into the Department of Pharmacology, for work performed in the first or second year of the Program. The Norman Weiner Award for Excellence in Research may be awarded to any student for work anytime during the thesis years. The Graduate Training Committee carries out selection of award recipients based on performance in the major areas of: academics, research rotations, the major seminar, publications, and laboratory research.

The Academic Award will be evaluated in terms of:

The Research Award will be evaluated in terms of: