Graduate Student Awards

The application period for these awards ended on Sunday, January 21, 2024

Important Dates

Applications open: December 5, 2023
Application deadline: January 21, 2024
Nomination deadline: January 21, 2024
Deadline for letters of recommendation: January 31, 2024
Award decisions and notifications will be completed by May 1, 2024

Eric and Louise Conn Graduate Student Award in Plant Biochemistry

The Eric and Louise Conn Graduate Student Award in Plant Biochemistry was endowed through a generous gift from Eric and Louise Conn. This award supports outstanding graduate students performing research in the field of plant biochemistry. be eligible, applicants must be full-time registered graduate students in good academic standing in the Plant Biology or the Biochemistry and Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology Graduate Groups, and working with faculty mentors in the College of Biological Sciences.

Anticipated award(s): 1-2
Maximum award amount: $2,000

Sharon Gray Memorial Award

The Sharon Gray Memorial Award was created to honor the life of Dr. Sharon Gray, a postdoctoral scholar with a passion and commitment to mentoring women in science. The award will support a graduate student mentor in a CBS Graduate Group whose faculty mentor is within CBS and an undergraduate or graduate student mentee who does research in this CBS laboratory. The mentor and mentee will each have funds available for use in educational and professional development opportunities such as attending conferences, workshops, courses, and other opportunities that advance their knowledge and skills applicable to their research interests. The awards are not to be used to fund research expenses.

Anticipated award(s): 1-2
Maximum award amount: $1,250

Barbara Horwitz & John Horowitz Molecular, Cellular and Integrative Physiology Award

The Barbara Horwitz & John Horowitz Molecular, Cellular and Integrative Physiology Award was endowed through a generous gift from Barbara Horwitz & John Horowitz. This award recognizes an outstanding graduate student in the Molecular, Cellular, and Integrative Physiology Graduate Group, and is applied towards travel and/or supplies. To be eligible, applicants must be full-time registered graduate students in good academic standing in the MCIP graduate group, in their second year or beyond, with a minimum GPA of 3.5.

Anticipated award(s): 2-4
Maximum award amount: $2,000

Monsanto Fellowship Program

The Monsanto Fellowship was endowed through a generous gift from the Monsanto Corporation. This fellowship is available to outstanding UC Davis College of Biological Sciences graduate students preparing for careers in agricultural biotechnology. To be eligible, applicants shall have declared the intention to pursue a career in agricultural biotechnology. Students must be in good academic standing and are required to maintain a minimum GPA of 3.0. Applicants must be full-time registered graduate students in one of the eight Biological Sciences graduate groups.

Anticipated award(s): 1-2
Maximum award amount: $3,000

Loren D. Carlson Prize in Physiology

The Loren D. Carlson Prize in Physiology honors the contributions of Loren D. Carlson, former Chair of the Physiology Graduate Group. The annual prize honors one student in the Molecular, Cellular, and Integrative Physiology Graduate Group who has demonstrated "scholarly achievement and promise for teaching and research." To be eligible, students must have advanced to candidacy, or completed their Ph.D. the year prior. Please submit a nomination letter and a copy of the candidate’s dissertation or other evidence of scholarly achievement, such as pdfs of published papers.

Anticipated award(s): 1
Maximum award amount: $3,000
*This award is by faculty nomination only

Dean's Mentorship Award

The Dean’s Mentorship Award was created by the Dean of Biological Sciences, and made possible through donations to the Dean’s Circle Annual Fund, to recognize graduate students who have demonstrated excellence in the mentorship of undergraduate students. This award provides funding to the selected graduate students and an additional funding to the graduate student’s laboratory to support the research experience of undergraduates being mentored by that graduate student. To be eligible, applicants must be full-time registered graduate students in good academic standing in one of the eight graduate groups in the College of Biological Sciences:
  • Animal Behavior
  • Biochemistry, Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology
  • Biophysics
  • Integrative genetics and genomics
  • Molecular, Cellular and Integrative Physiology
  • Neuroscience
  • Plant Biology
  • Population Biology
Anticipated award(s): 2-5
Maximum award amount: $5,000 (split between graduate student and undergraduate mentor)
*This award is by faculty nomination only

Irving I. Hertzendorf Memorial Award

The Irving I. Hertzendorf Memorial Award was created to honor the life of Irving I. Hertzendorf, a graduate student in Physiology. This award is presented annually to an exceptional Ph.D. student in the Molecular, Cellular, and Integrative Physiology Graduate Group, to recognize the full range of scholarly attributes, including completion of a significant research project. Nominees must fulfill the following criteria:
  • advancement to candidacy
  • excellence in physiology research
  • leadership, professional competence, and an interest in the welfare of others
  • demonstrated in-depth interest in the life sciences
Nominations for the Hertzendorf Award should include a letter detailing the contributions the nominee has made in the areas of leadership and an interest in the welfare of others, to the campus community as a whole and the Molecular, Cellular and Integrative Physiology Graduate Group in particular. A description of the physiology research completed by the nominee, along with a listing of any publications or presentations to scientific meetings, is highly desirable.

Anticipated award(s): 1
Maximum award amount: $500
*This award is by faculty nomination only