Description: Provide AP-S awards travel grants annually to help graduate students attend the annual IEEE International Symposium on Antennas and Propagation.
Administration: IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society
Eligibility: Recipients must:
- Be a graduate student (MS or PhD) at the time of application enrolled in electrical engineering or a related field at an accredited institution of higher learning.
- Be an IEEE AP-S student member.
- Have the endorsement of a faculty advisor who is a member of IEEE AP-S.
- Have submitted at least one first-authored paper to be presented at the AP-S Symposium.
- Student must show an interest in pursuing a career in Antennas and Propagation
- A student may receive only one travel grant. Previous award winners are not eligible. An advisor may endorse only one applicant at a time.
Prize: Multiple Awards Given Annually. Each recipient receives full prize. Up to eight (8) grants to be given each year, nominally $1,500 each. The grant does not include the conference registration fee.
Frequency: The Travel Grants will be presented annually. Travel Grants will be given only if suitable awardees are identified.
Funds: The IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society Talent Development Fund, which functions as an endowment, was approved by the IEEE Foundation during its September 15th, 2024, board meeting. Active fundraising began in July 2024 with the guidance of IEEE Foundation staff and AP-S leadership with a goal to secure US$3 million in donations. At the time of this submission, $742,000 has been received into the Fund, and an additional $24,000 in pledged support is anticipated by March 1, 2025. The Fund will support initiatives, including the John Volakis Travel Grant, related to students (undergraduate and graduate) and early career/young professionals (practitioners and researchers). $12,325 from the Fund annually will support the John Volakis Travel Grant awards and associated administrative costs. This amount may increase based on additional contribution to John Volakis Travel Grant
Nominee Solicitation: To guarantee a comprehensive and varied selection of eligible candidates, the annual call for travel grants will be extensively publicized through the AP-S Magazine, the AP-S Website, social media and IEEE AP-S flagship conference website. Participants must be active student members of the IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society. Self-nominations are permitted. Endorsement of a faculty advisor who is a member of IEEE AP-S is required.
Award Committee: The Award Committee of IEEE AP-S John Volakis Travel Grant for Graduate Students is appointed and oversighted by the IEEE AP-S Member and Geographic Activities Committee Chair. It consists of 5-10 judge panel of experts including the chair who must be active and well qualified members of the IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society. This Committee constitutes a sub-committee of the IEEE AP-S Member and Geographic Activities Committee. The term of the Chair and of the Members is 1 year renewable with a maximum of 3 consecutive terms. At the end of the evaluation process the award committee makes the recommendation to the IEEE AP-S Member and Geographic Activities Committee Chair, who approves the final decision. The quorum is >70% of the number of voting members of the committee. For the John Volakis Travel Grant, former students and donors to this travel award desire to be part of the selection committee.
Schedule: The announcement of the travel grants is September 1, the submission of nominations/projects/deliverables opens contemporarily to the submission of IEEE AP-S flagship conference and closes with the submission deadline. The awards committee makes the recommendation to the IEEE AP-S Member and Geographic Activities Committee Chair by March 1 of the following year, and the winners are notified as early as possible after March 1. Award winners are to be notified via email by the chair of the AP-S Award Committee Chair.
Selection/Basis for Judging: Applications must be submitted by the deadline and must include all items listed below to be considered for review. All application materials must be written in English and be integrated into a single PDF document:
- Completed application form.
- First-authored conference paper to be presented at the AP-S Symposium.
- Brief curriculum vitae or resume no more than two pages long that includes periods of attendance at all schools, expected and completed graduation dates, and a list of published and submitted journal and conference papers.
- Recommendation letter from a faculty advisor, who must be a member of the IEEE AP-S. The letter should discuss the student’s aptitude to perform the research, and provide justification for the student’s need for the travel grant.
Selection will be based on the following criteria:
- A first-authored conference paper accepted for presentation at the AP-S Symposium.
- Recommendation letter, with particular emphasis on the items listed in the last bullet above.
Presentation: Recipients are notified via email by the IEEE AP-S Member and Geographic Activities Committee Chair.
Publicity: Awardees will be widely publicized in the IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society Website.