The Forum on Education Abroad

Award for Excellence in Research

Nomination deadline: July 31, 2010

Purpose

The Forum on Education Abroad announces the Award for Excellence in Research, which recognizes and encourages rigorous inquiry into important topics in the field of education abroad.  The Award will recognize those individuals or research groups that complete significant research that benefits the field. Awards will honor exceptional candidates and highlight excellent research that furthers our understanding of education abroad.  In addition to honoring researchers, the award will contribute to the improvement of education abroad by disseminating research that can serve as critical resources for the field.  

Award Description and Criteria

The award is presented to an individual or research team whose substantial, published work on education abroad has made, or has the potential to make, a significant impact on education abroad theory and/or practice. Award winners will receive recognition in Forum announcements and on the Forum website, and will be asked to present at the next Forum annual conference, with conference fees, travel and accommodations paid.  Award winners will also be invited to write a summary of their research and its significance for education abroad to appear in an issue of Frontiers: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Education Abroad, a strategic partner of the Forum. Those nominating candidates must be affiliated with a Forum institutional member. 

The Nominee’s research should:

• be substantial in nature, although it need not necessarily have been broad in impact, e.g., it may have been limited to a particular aspect of education abroad;
• have made, or have the potential to make, a strong impact on education abroad theory or practice;
• use sound, accepted research standards in methodology and analysis;
• be completed beyond the pilot phase;
• be published in a peer-reviewed publication.

Eligibility

Any researcher or research team that has completed research projects relevant to the award criteria.  Nominees need not be affiliated with a Forum member institution, but those submitting nominations must be affiliated with a Forum member institution.  Past winners cannot be nominated for a minimum of five years from the date of winning the award.

Nomination Process

Nominations should be submitted via email and must be combined into a single electronic file and sent as a single email attachment in Microsoft word format.  The preferred order of the materials is:

• Nomination form: must be submitted by the Institutional Representative of a Forum Institutional Member, although the researcher does not need to be from a Forum member institution. Self-nominations are allowed, but require an additional letter of recommendation.
• A one-page statement describing why the work qualifies for the award.
• A two-page abstract summarizing the research topic, methodology, results and relevance to education abroad.
• A copy of a book chapter, journal article or other published piece representing a peer-reviewed result from the research project.
• Letters of support, limited to 3 pages, from 2 recommenders (3 if self-nominating) discussing the impact or potential impact of the work for education abroad, and describing the overall quality of the research. Letters of recommendation can be sent electronically to the Forum separately from the application document.
• A Curriculum Vita, limited to 3 pages, that highlights the researcher’s work that is most relevant for this award; if the research was conducted by a team, one CV should be submitted for each principle team member

Deadline

Completed applications must be received at info@forumea.org by July 31, 2010.

Timeline

October 2011       Winner Announced

Spring    2011       Winner presents at the Forum Annual Conference In Boston

• One representative of the Forum Board of Directors (appointed by the Board Executive Committee)
• One representative of the Forum Outcomes Assessment Committee (appointed by its chair), who wlll serve as Research Award Committee Chair and coordinate the Award
• One member of the Frontiers Editorial Board (nominated by Frontiers Editor and appointed by the Research Award Committee Chair)
• Two researchers from outside international education
• (Beginning in year two of the Award) The previous year’s Award Winner (if a research team, then one person represents the team)

Research Award Committee members will recuse themselves from judging applications submitted by researchers from their institution/organization, or if the committee member has participated in some phase of the research under consideration.