Twenty-six Cornell graduate students have won more than $42,000 in fall 2018 Research Travel Grants, which provide students up to $2,000 to conduct thesis or dissertation research away from campus. In a typical year, 70 to 80 students receive these competitive grants from the Graduate School. More grant winners will be announced in the spring. Although many students use their grants to conduct research abroad, some students make use of their award traveling in the United States, sometimes remaining in New York state. For Amanda Davis, a doctoral student in animal science, this grant will allow her to conduct research on milk production during mid-lactation on dairy cows right in nearby Cortland County, New York. “I decided to apply for this grant because I need to collect milk samples from my cows three times per day for my 50-day trial at the Cornell University Ruminant Center, which is a 30-minute drive from my office,” she said. “This study is important because consumer preferences are causing a decline in bovine [growth hormone] use. Alternative approaches to maximize milk production per cow should be considered to maintain sustainability.” Prateek Bansal, a doctoral student in civil engineering, was one of 34 students who received a travel grant during the spring 2018 round. For him, the grant supported a visit to Santiago, Chile, where he was collaborated with researchers at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile. “A part of my doctoral research focuses on understanding the valuation of crowding by passengers in the subway,” he said. “I conducted experiments and developed models to understand the case of the New York City subway. I could extend the same research in collaboration with professors at Universidad de Chile. In fact, I could corroborate my models with the crowding data of the Santiago subway.” According to Bansal, “This research visit could not have been possible without my Research Travel Grant.” For Mary Moroney, a doctoral student in linguistics, a travel grant awarded in fall 2017 allowed her to spend the following winter break in Chiang Mai, Thailand, studying the Shan, or Tai, language. “This grant funded my travel and month-long stay. It was very important for my research,” she said. “During this trip I made important connections and collected a lot of good data, and this grant made that possible.” Fall 2018 Research Travel Grants awardees and their travel plans are: The deadline for spring Research Travel Grants is Feb. 1, 2019. Recipients must be enrolled in a graduate research degree program (M.A./M.S., MFA, D.M.S., JSD, or Ph.D.), with preference given to post-A Exam doctoral students conducting independent research travel. The application form can be found online.
Grants help graduate students to do research around the world
By:
Katya Hrichak,
Cornell Chronicle
Tue, 11/27/2018