Mycological Society of America Graduate Fellowship

Scholarship Sponsored by Mycological Society of America

An inaugural Donald H. Pfister Graduate Fellowship, two MSA Graduate Fellowships, the NAMA Memorial Fellowship, and the Backus Award are awarded annually to promising graduate students in mycology. Applicants are evaluated on the basis of their scholastic merit, research ability, and promise shown as a mycologist. These fellowships are intended as supplementary grants and may be used by the recipients in any way to further their graduate studies. They are awarded in addition to any fellowship or assistantship support from other sources.

The Donald H. Pfister Graduate fellowship, the MSA Graduate Fellowship, NAMA Memorial Fellowship, and Backus Awards are administered by the Student Awards Committee.

The NAMA Memorial Scholarship was established to commemorate an amateur or professional mycologist designated annually by the NAMA Board of Trustees. The requirements are the same as those for the MSA Graduate Fellowships, with the additional stipulation that the recipient provides either — or both — an article for McIlvainea and/or presents their work at a NAMA Annual Foray.

The Donald H. Pfister Graduate Fellowship will be awarded to graduate students who are working on projects that require work in fungaria or that need funds to support field work that generates collections that will be accessioned in publicly accessible fungaria. The goal is to contribute to the documentation of biodiversity through these supported activities. The project does not need to be taxonomic in nature but could involve the use of collections to document the occurrence of fungi over time and/or space, or the project could ask ecological questions that can be answered from the study of existing collections or through the vouchering of specimens used in such studies. The emphasis should be on the use and improvement of the vast resources of institutional collections and/or on the documentation of fungi in the field.

Award Requirements

Applicants must be:

1. Student members of MSA, or must have applied for membership at the time of the award application.
2. PhD candidates.
3. Previous recipients of these fellowships are not eligible to apply. The NAMA Fellowship comes with the stipulation that the awardee prepares an article for McIlvainea.

Documents Required

Application Form, including a statement that you have passed your qualifying exams (comprehensive, oral, preliminary, or their equivalent)

1. A curriculum vitae that includes at least (maximum 3 pages):
   • Name, contact address, email address, and phone number
   • Previous awards and honors
   • Publications and other significant professional output
   • Service if available
2. A detailed plan of study. The text of this plan of study must be no longer than 5 pages; including tables, figures, and references. Applications that include proposals exceeding the 5-page limit will not be considered. The text of this proposal should be single-spaced and printed in a regular-sized font (10 cpi or 12 point) with one-inch margins on all sides. Section headings and double spacing between paragraphs may be used to make your proposal easier to read. The proposal must include:
   • Abstract (200-250 words)
   • Introduction: explains what you want to do and why it is interesting or important.
   • Objectives
   • Methods: demonstrates that the project is feasible and describe how the study will be conducted
   • Significance and preliminary results, if available (be concise in your explanation)
   • Budget and budget justification. Include in this section a timeline to complete the proposal (generally one year) and a plan for the dissemination of results
3. One letter of recommendation from your supervisor or thesis advisor. We recommend that your supervisor’s letter also address your eligibility based on candidacy. The reference letter should be sent directly by the individual writing the letter, not the applicant.