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/uvapda2023. The application deadline for the Diversity Programs Office Professional Development Award is Friday, March 8, 2024. All funds awarded must be used before May 1, 2025. Recipients will be alerted April 1st.

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 no other funds available from sources, such as your advisor, department, etc. Awarded funds will be released either in the form of a reimbursement after proof of purchase of the approved activity, or arrangements can be made by a staff member in the Office of Graduate and Postdoctoral Affairs to issue a payment made directly to the vendor on your behalf for the approved activity.

Receipts must include the payment method used, the total amount paid, and a zero balance. Credit card statements, screenshots, online banking screens, and reservation confirmations will not be accepted as receipts. All expenses submitted for reimbursement must be directly related to participation in the proposed activity. All receipts are subject to review and approval by the Office of Graduate and Postdoctoral Affairs fiscal tech.

If a student receives the Professional Development Award and the full amount of the funds are not utilized, all unused funds will remain with the Office of Graduate and Postdoctoral Affairs, Diversity Programs.
 

Please complete an online application at the following website https://bit.ly/uvapda2023, 

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 event, including dates and locations. If possible, applicants should also submit a brochure, print-out or other promotional material for the activity.
4. A 1000-word essay describing your career goals, the importance of the opportunity relative to your academic field of study, and how the proposed activity aligns and will contribute to your degree program and professional development.
5. A completed budget template with justification for proposed activity. 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. A copy of the budget template for submission can be downloaded online at https://graddiversity.virginia.edu/media/1391.
6. A UVA faculty or staff member from your department must complete an online questionnaire form and optional letter of recommendation in support of your application.  The online questionnaire will be emailed to the designated reference and all members are asked to submit their responses no later than the application deadline on March 8th.  Any support questionnaire responses received after the deadline will result in ineligibility for the applicant.

Letters of support from UVA Faculty or staff should include, but not be limited to, the following:

• Confirm that the applicant is making satisfactory academic progress.
• Discuss how the proposed opportunity will complement the degree program and contribute to the professional career preparedness of the applicant.
   

Award funds may be applied to activities 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/sec-046.
 

All awardees will be asked to complete an online survey with open-ended, reflective questions about your experience—photos of recipients engaged in the awarded professional development activity and links to videos may also be submitted. All post-award survey submissions are asked to be sent in within one month after completing your activity and your responses will be shared with the Office of Graduate and Postdoctoral Affairs.

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: 

• Motivation, passion, persistence, character
• Research interests and the applied impact of their work with societal engagement
• Past performance will be assessed by the applicant’s resume/CV, personal statement, and letter of support/questionnaire from recommender
• Applicants will also be evaluated on their suite of academic/professional accomplishments, including breadth of relevant professional and extracurricular experiences
   

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 
PhD Student, Chemical Engineering
University of Virginia, School of Engineering

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

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

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

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

Mohammed Yasar 
PhD 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