The Kenneth and Barbara Starks Graduate Student Award, administered and presented by P-IE Section, recognizes innovative research by a doctoral student working on plant-insect interactions. The award was established by an endowment from donations by Kenneth J. and Barbara Starks and additional donors. Presented annually during the Monday afternoon P-IE Networking Session during the ESA Annual Meeting, the award consists of a plaque, an award of $1,000, and a waiver of registration from P-IE for attending the ESA Annual Meeting in the year the award is granted. The recipient is encouraged to present research results at an ESA meeting.
Eligibility
Nomination Requirements
Evaluation Criteria
Previous Winners
Deadline
SUBMIT A NOMINATION
Eligibility
Each nominee must be a PhD student in entomology whose innovative research contributes significantly to knowledge of plant-insect interactions. The nominee must be pursuing doctoral degree at an accredited university. The nominee must be an ESA and P-IE Section member.
Recipients must either attend the P-IE Section Awards Ceremony and Networking Event at the ESA National Meeting or submit a 3-minute video highlighting their contributions to be played at the Awards Ceremony. All recipients must contribute a post in the P-IE newsletter.
Recipients are encouraged, but not required, to present a poster or oral presentation at the national meeting. Given the uncertainty around funding this year, we are relaxing the presentation requirement in 2025.
Nomination Requirements
Nomination packages must include the following:
- A letter of nomination from the student’s advisor (maximum 2 pages)
- A statement from the nominee that includes the title of the research, duration, and background information concerning the significance of the research to the field of plant-insect interactions (maximum 2 pages)
- A CV or resume
- One letter of support from a person familiar with the nominee’s qualifications (maximum 2 pages)
The nominating faculty member should submit the application package via the P-IE Award Nomination website. Only PDF files will be accepted. Font size for text may not be smaller than 10 point. Supporting image files should be embedded into the document and should be of sufficient resolution for easy viewing.
Evaluation Criteria
Nominees will be judged using the following criteria for a total of 45 points:
- Candidate (15 points total)
- Student’s qualifications (5)
- Letters of nomination and support (10)
- Proposed Research (30 points total)
- Significance of Contribution (10)
- Creativity and innovation (10)
- National impact (10)
Previous Winners
View the list of those who have previously received this award.
Deadline
Nomination packages must be submitted online via the P-IE Kenneth and Barbara Starks Plant Resistance to Insects Graduate Student Award Nomination website by June 1 annually. This deadline refers to receipt by the awards administrator of a complete package in a readable format.