COMP IDEA Student Travel Awards

COMP IDEA Student Travel Awards

The COMP Student Council (SC) is committed to fostering inclusion, diversity, equity, and accessibility (IDEA) in medical physics. We believe that IDEA is vital for delivering high quality cancer care, nurturing innovation, and advancing research and academic excellence. We recognize that equity-denied groups face unique barriers to succeeding within medical physics and we are seeking ways to develop and maintain initiatives that are aimed at increasing representation and inclusion of equity-denied individuals and groups.

Towards that end, we are excited to announce the Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility (IDEA) Student Travel Award to provide financial assistance for students who identify with equity-denied groups* and who demonstrate financial need to attend the 2024 COMP Annual Scientific Meeting (ASM).

The IDEA Student Travel Award aims to inspire the next generation of medical physicists by providing an opportunity for undergraduate and graduate students to gain valuable exposure, experience, and mentorship from medical physicists and other professionals in the medical physics community through their attendance at the COMP Annual Scientific Meeting.

IDEA Student Travel Award Structure

The award offers two travel scholarships of $1,000 CAD each, one for an undergraduate student and one for a graduate student, selected by the award adjudication committee based on the complete application package and eligibility criteria. If no suitable applicants from either category meet the award criteria, the award(s) will be offered to an eligible applicant from the other applicant category. In such a case we will award either two undergraduate students or two graduate students.

Eligibility Criteria

• The applicant is a student studying at the undergraduate or graduate level at a Canadian university and enrolled in a medical physics program, or a physics-focused (or equivalent) program with an interest in medical physics (e.g. biomedical physics, medical biophysics, biomedical engineering, etc.)
• The applicant is a COMP Student Member at the time of application
• The applicant identifies as a member of an equity-denied group (see footnote).
• The applicant demonstrates financial need and was unable to secure other funding to attend the conference. Financial need is defined as any obstacle(s), such as low-income, low socioeconomic status or financial burdens, that may prevent or impose restrictions from attending the conference.

Application Requirements

• 2024 IDEA Student Travel Award Application Form.
• Personal statement (1-page maximum).
• CV (no page limit).
• Letter of Support (2-page maximum) submitted directly by your referee.

For more details regarding the guidelines and requirements for these items, see the instructions provided in the application form.

Submission Instructions

Both of the following must be completed by the application deadline, April 15, 2024. Applications received after this date will not be considered for the award.

1. Submit the 2024 IDEA Student Travel Award Application Form, personal statement, and CV as a single PDF file to COMP IDEA DropBox (tinyurl.com/IDEA2024DropBox) saved as ApplicantLastName_FirstName_IDEA2024TravelAward_Application.pdf.
2. Have your referee submit a Letter of Support to the COMP IDEA DropBox (tinyurl.com/IDEA2024DropBox) saved as ApplicantLastName_FirstName_IDEA2024TravelAward_Letter.pdf.

Award Adjudication

The IDEA Award adjudication committee will select two recipients based on the completed application package together with the letter of support, in accordance with the following criteria:

• Motivation for attending the ASM and how participating would provide the applicant a novel experience, even if they have attended the ASM in a previous year.
• How participating in the ASM would contribute to the applicant’s career aspirations, goals, or trajectory in medical physics.
• Non-academic contributions and accomplishments, such as relevant experiences, leadership roles, community involvement, or other involvement that has been part of the applicant’s personal development.
• Scientific or academic contributions, skills, attributes, or experiences that may help the applicant to contribute meaningfully to the medical physics community.

We recognize that equity-denied groups often encounter complex challenges and barriers to achieving academic success. Academic merit and research ability will be evaluated as a secondary criterion with primary emphasis on the personal statement and letter of support that detail the applicant’s capabilities and potential. We also recognize that these barriers apply equally to non-academic success. For instance, community involvement often demands volunteer hours, which may not be feasible for students from low-income backgrounds, and systemic barriers can prevent a person from securing leadership positions and their associated experiences. We encourage you to share your story in your personal statement and the award adjudication will keep an open mind throughout the evaluation process.

Timeline:

 
Questions about eligibility, the application process, and application requirements can be sent directly to the COMP Student Council representative for the 2024 IDEA Student Travel Award (Andrew Zwaniga, azwaniga@torontomu.ca).

*In this context, equity-denied groups refer to individuals who have been historically disadvantaged and underrepresented. These groups include but are not limited to the following designated groups in Canada: women, Indigenous people, people with disabilities, people who are part of LGBTQ2+ communities, religious minority groups and racialized people (Canadian Centre for Diversity and Inclusion, Centre canadien pour la diversité et l'inclusion. Glossary of Terms. January 2022). Expanding on this definition, recent immigrants and individuals facing low socioeconomic status are also eligible.