The Pollitzer Student Travel Awards are designed to help students defray the costs of attending the AAPA meetings. They are named in honor of William S. Pollitzer, a Human Biologist who taught at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, was a Darwin Lifetime Achievement Awardee, and past president of the AAPA.  

Link to the 2017 essay topic and submission site here.

/about/awards-funding-and-other-opportunities/william-s-pollitzer-student-travel-award/

Qualifications: This award is open to all AAPA members in good standing (undergraduate and graduate) who are students and attending the annual meeting. You do NOT have to present a paper/poster to receive an award. In order to be eligible, you MUST be a student member at the time that you apply AND at the time the meeting is held (you may check your membership status at http://birenheide.com/AAPA/memberinfo.php. If you cannot logon or retrieve your membership credentials please contact Heide Rohland  at [email protected]). Students who are not current members must have a completed membership application submitted by Jan. 1, 2017. Preference will be given to applicants who have not previously received a Pollitzer Award.

Award: Each award of $500 is made to defray travel costs to the meetings.

Application Essay: Awards are made on the basis of an essay of no more than 750 words long (excluding references).  The essay question changes each year. Any submission over 750 words will be automatically disqualified. 

Pollitzer essays must be submitted online by Jan. 1, 2017. The topic question will be posted by Sept. 15, 2016 and the online application will be available through a link at physanth.org/ by mid-Oct 2016.

Essay Evaluation and Scoring Procedures: The AAPA Student Affairs Committee will evaluate each submission with an identification number to mask applicants’ identities. Because your submission will be evaluated anonymously, please be sure NOT to include your name, institutional affiliation, or other identifying information in the text of your submission. The scoring criteria are:

1. Clarity and focus. 45 points possible 
   
2. Originality of thought and insight. 45 points possible 
   
3. Grammar and spelling. 10 points possible 
   

The average scores from all judges will be used as the basis for deciding the winners of the award, with the AAPA Executive Committee giving final approval of the committee’s recommendation. Winners will be notified by mid- January 2017 and payment from the AAPA Secretary-Treasurer will be made via check or PayPal once meeting registration and travel are confirmed.