Professional Development Award

To be eligible for this award an applicant must be:

1. A UVA graduate or professional student enrolled full time in a degree seeking program and in good academic standing with a GPA of 3.0 at the time of submission and use of the funds.
2. A UVA postdoctoral scholar/research associate.

The UVA Professional Development Award selection committee aims to recruit and retain graduate students, professional students, and postdoctoral scholars/early-career professionals throughout their careers. It is essential that we give full consideration to all applicants, including those at an early stage of their academic career, whose experience and potential will look different from applicants who have progressed further in their graduate or postdoctoral programs. The selection committee will evaluate all proposals with respect to your academic progression and professional experience.  
 

Please complete an online application at the following website, https://bit.ly/uvapda2024.

All Professional Development Award packets must include:

1. A cover sheet with the following information: Applicant’s Name, Email, Program/Department, School, Degree Program, Number of Years at UVA, name of Reference Writer.
2. Two-page CV or Resume.
3. A 500-word description of the training opportunity, including dates and locations. If possible, applicants should also submit a brochure, print-out or other promotional material for the activity.
4. Answers to prompt questions describing what are your career goals and how do you envision the proposed activity impacting and helping you meet your professional career goal(s), degree program, and/or overall professional development.
5. A completed budget template with justifications for proposed expenditures. We ask that all applicants list external funding sources, both potential and acquired from sources such as a faculty member, program, department, school, fellowship or personal, that will supplement the funding request. Download the budget template here: https://graddiversity.virginia.edu/media/1391.  
6. As a part of your application, a UVA faculty or staff member from your department is asked to serve as a reference and complete an online questionnaire form in support of your application.  The online questionnaire will be emailed to the designated reference, where they will be asked to submit their responses no later than the application deadline on March 8th. Any questionnaire responses received after the application deadline will result in ineligibility for the applicant. Additional information, including letter of recommendation, will not be reviewed by the professional development award committee. 
    

All applications for the UVA Professional Development Award will be reviewed by a selection committee. The selection committee will evaluate applicants in the following areas: 

• Reference Questionnaire Form 
• Personal Statement
• Professional Development Growth Potential
• Budget Template for Proposed Professional Development Activity Description
• Overall Review of Documents

We welcome strongly encourage you to download a copy of the rubric to view the criteria and rating scale at https://bit.ly/uvapdarubric. This rubric will be used during the evaluation process of all applications.

When is the deadline for the UVA Professional Development Award?

Please complete an online application at the following website link: https://bit.ly/uvapda2024. The application deadline for the Diversity Programs Office Professional Development Award is Friday, March 8, 2024. All funds awarded must be used between April 1, 2024 - March 31, 2025. Recipients will be notified by the first week of April 1st. 

What are examples of qualifying use of the Professional Development Award? 

Examples of qualifying uses of the Professional Development Award include items such as workshops; short courses; research supplies, data collection/field work travel, and activities not covered by your department or research advisor; conference registration and participation expenses, such as hotel and meals only affiliated with the conference; any other reasonable activity that complements your current degree program and supports your professional and career objectives.

Examples of expenses not eligible for reimbursement include:

• Tuition or fees affiliated with graduate programs at the University of Virginia
• Health insurance, fringe benefits, and indirect costs
• Living expenses affiliated with your graduate studies at the University of Virginia 
• Research activities, software, trainings, or certifications that can be provided by the UVA school, department, and/or research advisor. For a full listing of available software available at UVA, please visit https://virginia.service-now.com/its/?id=software_gateway
• Expendable supplies and permanent equipment for research, such as laptops, tablets, cell phones, and other similar electrical devices 
• Leisure and/or recreational activities

Awardees are asked to adhere to university travel polices. To view the current policy please visit https://uvapolicy.virginia.edu/policy/PROV-010.

How will the Professional Development Award be distributed? 

The Professional Development Award will be distributed in the form of a one-time payment issued to the recipient for the sponsored activity. Award(s) with a maximum value of $1,000 each will be issued.

We encourage individuals to submit an application for this award only if you have a specific need and after confirming that funds are not available from other sources, such as your advisor, department, etc.

How do I improve my application?

https://graddiversity.virginia.edu/ways-improve-application

Spring 2023 Award Recipients 

Kerwin Holmes Jr.
Doctoral Student, Religious Studies
University of Virginia, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences  

Siva Venkadesh 
Postdoctoral Research Associate, Psychology Department 
University of Virginia, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences  

Anukriti Shrestha 
Doctoral Student, Chemical Engineering
University of Virginia, School of Engineering

Dana Golden
Doctoral Student, Kinesiology 
University of Virginia, School of Education and Human Development 

Renna Nouwairi 
Doctoral Student, Chemistry 
University of Virginia, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences 

Molly Joyce 
Doctoral Student, Department of Music
University of Virginia, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences 

Nnenna Onyima
Doctoral Student, Department of French
University of Virginia, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences 

Mohammed Yasar 
Doctoral Student, Computer Engineering
University of Virginia, School of Engineering

Spring 2022 Recipients 

Carlos Velazco Fernández
Doctoral Student, Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese
University of Virginia, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences  

Courtney Rogers
Doctoral Student, Engineering Systems and Environment
University of Virginia, School of Engineering and Applied Science

Dana May
Doctoral Student, Neuroscience
University of Virginia, School of Medicine

Dustin Thomas
Doctoral Student, Mediterranean Art and Archaeology Program
University of Virginia, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences  

Miray Seward
Doctoral Student, Educational Psychology - Applied Developmental Science
University of Virginia, School of Education and Human Development 

Xavier Thompson
Doctoral Student, Kinesiology 
University of Virginia, School of Education and Human Development 

Spring 2021 Award Recipients 

Winnie Pérez Martínez
Doctoral Student, Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese
University of Virginia, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences  
Biography

Bev Miller
Doctoral Student, Chemical Engineering
University of Virginia, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
Biography

Wendy Smith
Postdoctoral Fellow and Lecturer in the New Curriculum
Biography

Abigail Akosua Amoako Kayser
Postdoctoral Research Associate
University of Virginia, Graduate School of Education and Human Development
Biography

Seanna Viechweg
Doctoral Student, English
University of Virginia, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
Biography

Spring 2020 Award Recipients 

Andrea Negrete
Doctoral Student, Community Psychology
University of Virginia, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences  
Biography

Ariana J. Rivens
Doctoral Student, Clinical Psychology
University of Virginia, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
Biography

Spring 2019 Award Recipients 

Alexander Sutton
Doctoral Student, Sociology
University of Virginia, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences  

Tracey Stewart
Doctoral Student, Music
University of Virginia, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences  

Darius Carter
Doctoral Student, Mechanical Engineering
University of Virginia, School of Engineering and Applied Science

Fall 2018 Award Recipients 

Lola "Lollie" Akere
J.D. Candidate, Class of 2019
University of Virginia, School of Law

Trina K. Kumodzi, BSN, RN, CCRN
PhD Student 
Jonas Scholar 
University of Virginia, School of Nursing 

Patrice Wright
Sociology PhD Student 
University of Virginia, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences 

Chiquita Melvin 
M.F.A. Candidate, Class of 2019 
University of Virginia, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences