Roque Calvo Next Generation Scholarship Fund starts with $100,000 anonymous donation
Pennington, NJ – (May 1, 2018) – The Electrochemical Society has created the Roque Calvo Next Generation Scholarship Fund in honor of the 37 years of service from Executive Director and CEO, Roque Calvo. The scholarship will give the students and early-career scientists and researchers, who would not otherwise be able to afford the travel expenses, the opportunity to participate in biannual ECS meetings.
ECS meetings are held biannually around the world, attracting anywhere from 2,100 to 4,000 scientists and engineers, who attend to share research and find collaborators.
Currently, ECS can only meet 20% of the total requests for student travel funding. “Student programming requires significant dollars,” says Calvo. “It’s extremely gratifying that ECS has created a new student scholarship fund in my name to help with this financial challenge.” The Roque Calvo New Generation Scholarship Fund will be a source of revenue specifically for travel grants that will ensure the participation of students and young investigators at future ECS meetings.
As grant money from universities and governments dwindles, the need to support young scientists involved in the fields of electrochemistry and solid state science and technology is imperative.
An anonymous donation of $100,000 is being used to launch the fund. The goal is to raise $500,000, which will allow an additional 50 students per year to attend each future ECS biannual meetings. Grantees will be selected through the ECS technical divisions.
Shortly after Calvo became executive director, he started several programs geared toward improving the interactions of students at the ECS biannual meetings. “One of my most rewarding experiences at ECS has been the role I’ve played in the development of student programs,” says Calvo. “The success and growth of ECS has been based on getting young researchers involved with ECS from the beginnings of their careers.” During Calvo’s tenure he started the student chapter program, which there are now over 70, facilitated the creation of nine new awards for students, and began the student poster sessions, now attracting nearly 300 posters each meeting.
The scholarship is in keeping with ECS’s Free the Science initiative to move toward a future that embraces open science to further advance research in electrochemistry and solid state sciences. It includes not only a long-term vision for transformative change in the traditional models of communicating scholarly research, but is also a call to support the people who perform research and need access to meetings and information.
Make a donation to the Roque Calvo Next Generation Scholarship Fund.
About ECS
A nonprofit, founded in 1902, ECS is led by scientists, for scientists. ECS advances electrochemistry and solid state science by publishing peer-reviewed scholarly journals, convening scientific meetings, and supporting emerging scientists in our fields. Visit: https://www.electrochem.org/
The 233rd ECS meeting will take place in Seattle, WA from May 13 to 17, 2018. Learn more about the meeting: https://www.electrochem.org/233
Media contact
The Electrochemical Society
Rob Gerth, Director of Marketing and Communications
609.737.1902 ext. 114
Rob.Gerth@electrochem.org
