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The purpose of the AAPG Foundation Grants-in-Aid program is to foster research in the geosciences by providing support to graduate students in the earth sciences whose research has application to the search for and development of petroleum and energy-minerals resources, and to related environmental geology issues.
The AAPG Foundation Grants-in-Aid program received two hundred seventy-two (272) applications for review this year. This is a decrease of 33 or 11% from the previous year (Table 1). Ninety-six (96) monetary awards were made this year totaling $168,600. The total number of awards decreased only slightly from the previous year. Thirty-five percent (35%) of the applicants received awards this year for an average grant of $1756, both a slight increase from the previous year. All Restricted Grants were awarded this year to the top scoring, eligible applicants.
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Table 1. 1995-2002 Funding History (Monetary Awards). |
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|
Year |
Applicants |
Awards |
% of |
Amount |
|
1995 |
198 |
59 |
30% |
87,614 |
|
1996 |
140 |
54 |
39% |
91,372 |
|
1997 |
179 |
61 |
34% |
96,542 |
|
1998 |
207 |
80 |
39% |
131,276 |
|
1999 |
273 |
127 |
47% |
155,500 |
|
2000 |
429 |
108 |
25% |
172,250 |
|
2001 |
305 |
100 |
33% |
172,000 |
|
2002 |
272 |
96 |
35 |
168,600 |
One hundred and forty-six (146) doctoral candidates applied for awards compared to one hundred and twenty-six (126) master's candidates, or those seeking the non-U.S. schools’ equivalent degree. Fifty-two percent (52%) of the doctoral candidates received awards, as did forty-nine (48%) of the master's candidates.
Just over half the applications received, fifty seven percent (57%) were from non-U.S. citizens compared to forty-three percent (43%) from U.S. citizens. The applications funded are based on competitive ranking and resulted in an even distribution between U.S. citizens (50%) and non-U.S. citizens (50%) (Table 2). Further analysis reveals that 59% of all the applicants are enrolled in U. S. schools, as are 63% of those receiving awards (Table 3).
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Table 2. Percentages of Applications Received and Awards Issued- By Citizenship. |
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|
Year |
Applications |
|
Applications Funded (%) |
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|
|
U.S. |
Non-U.S. |
|
U.S. |
Non-U.S. |
||||||||||||
|
1995* |
50 |
50 |
61 |
39 |
|||||||||||||
|
1996* |
48 |
52 |
53 |
47 |
|||||||||||||
|
1997* |
44 |
56 |
43 |
57 |
|||||||||||||
|
1998* |
51 |
49 |
51 |
49 |
|||||||||||||
|
1999 |
47 |
53 |
51 |
49 |
|||||||||||||
|
2000 |
45 |
55 |
60 |
40 |
|||||||||||||
|
2001 |
34 |
66 |
53 |
47 |
|||||||||||||
|
2002 |
43 |
57 |
|
50 |
50 |
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* Monetary + Merit Awards |
|
|
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Table 3. Percentages of Applications Received and Awards Issued - By School Nationality |
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|
Year |
Applications |
|
Applications |
||||||||||||||
|
|
U.S. |
Non-U.S. |
U.S. |
Non-U.S. |
|||||||||||||
|
1995* |
57 |
43 |
68 |
32 |
|||||||||||||
|
1996* |
58 |
42 |
66 |
34 |
|||||||||||||
|
1997* |
56 |
44 |
52 |
48 |
|||||||||||||
|
1998* |
59 |
41 |
61 |
39 |
|||||||||||||
|
1999 |
51 |
49 |
59 |
41 |
|||||||||||||
|
2000 |
56 |
44 |
72 |
28 |
|||||||||||||
|
2001 |
42 |
58 |
|
63 |
37 |
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|
2002 |
59 |
41 |
63 |
37 |
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The Grants-in-Aid program continues to reach out to students through its Web site. For the 2002 Program year, a postcard was sent to over 1300 schools around the world announcing the GIA program. The postcard referred applicants to a downloadable version of the Grants-in-Aid application form via the AAPG Web site, http://www.aapg.org/foundation/gia/index.html. Hard copies of the application can be requested from AAPG if students do not have internet access.
The list of the year 2002 award recipients was announced at the AAPG Annual Convention in Houston and made available on the AAPG Web site at http://www.aapg.org/foundation/gia/grants2002.html. Abstracts of theses and dissertations from students who received financial grants in 2002 will be published in electronic form in the August issue of the AAPG Bulletin. Due to space limitations in the hard copy of the Bulletin in 2002, abstracts for the 2002 award recipients will not be published in the printed Bulletin. Twenty-three (23) of the ninety-six (96) award recipients have currently submitted abstracts for publication. Publication of the abstracts increases the visibility of the Grants-in-Aid Program, provides prestige and publicity to award recipients, and informs the membership of student research being supported by the Foundation Program.
FUNDING
Of the total $168,600 amount awarded, $102,850 was provided by the Foundation Grants-in-Aid Fund and $65,750 was from AAPG Foundation "Named Grants" honoring institutions and distinguished AAPG members. Five (5) new named permanently funded grants were established within the AAPG Foundation and made available for the 2002 award year:
Garth W. Caylor Memorial Grant
Merrill W. Hass Memorial Grant
Frank E. Kottlowski Memorial Grant
James W. Milliken Memorial Grant
SEAPEX (Southeast Asia Petroleum Exploration Society) Named Grant
The funds from the Foundation and the Named Grants allow the Grants-in-Aid Program to continue rewarding excellence in petroleum, energy minerals, and environmental research. The Grants-in-Aid Committee encourages all AAPG members to support the Foundation Grants-in-Aid program and to consider endowing a Named Grant during their lifetime so they can experience the benefits and rewards of their charitable donations.
COMMITTEE
For the 2001-02 program year, the Committee comprised 50 members with geographic representation from the Australia (1), Austria (1), Belarus (1), Brazil (1), Canada (3), United Kingdom (4), India (1), Mexico (1), Netherlands (1), Poland (1), Saudi Arabia (1), Scotland (1), Singapore (1), Turkey (1), Ukraine (1), and U.S. (37, of which 8 have strong affiliation with International Regions). The Grants-in-Aid Committee aggressively recruits international members. This is greatly facilitated by the International Region Presidents and Service Team Leaders.
Many people deserve recognition for their role in making the Grants-in-Aid Program a success in 2002: the AAPG Foundation and individual donors for their generous financial contributions; Committee members, for thoughtful review of applications and their suggestions for improving the program; and the AAPG Foundation staff who are responsible for administration of the Grants-in-Aid Program. We wish to thank you all for your contributions, and your dedication continues to uphold the excellence of the AAPG Foundation Grants-in-Aid program.
Respectfully,
Denise M. Cox, Chairman and
George A. Grover Jr., Vice Chair
Committee Members: George Ardies, Kathy Aulstead, Robin Ausbrooks, Steven Bachtel, Ralph Baird, Jennifer Beall, Winston Bell-Gam, Andrei Belopolsky, Hedi Ben Tahar, Mark Bitter, Alton Brown, Raul Cabrera-Garzon, Melissa Anne Coleman, Christopher Crescini, Andrew Cullen, Sami Derman, Stephen Edwards, Curtis Evert, Lee Fairchild, Bret Fossum, Evan Franseen, Francois Gauthier, Jan Golonka, Michael Grammar, Anthony Grindrod, Walter Grun, Alexander Gumen, Edgar Guevara-Sanchez, Nicholas Harris, William Harrison, Denise Hodder, Jean Hsieh, Brian Keith, Alexander Kitchka, Gopal Lahiri, Henry Legarre, Richard Lorentz Jr., Peter Mackenzie, Kevin Meyer, Andrea Moscariello, Amy Osborn, Eric Potter, Matthew Pranter, William Raatz, Maximiono da Silva Scuta, Robert Sneider, Robert Spoelhof, Russell Stands-Over-Bull, Neil Summer, Krystyna Swirydczuk, Maureen Wan, Johnnie Wanger, Elizabeth Witton-Barnes, and Laura Zahm.
