Pollitzer Student Travel Awards 2024

The Pollitzer Student Travel Awards are designed to help students defray the costs of attending the AABA meetings.

The awards are named in honor of William S. Pollitzer, a Human Biologist who taught at University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, a Darwin Lifetime Achievement Awardee, and past president of the AABA.

Qualifications: This award is open to all AABA student members (undergraduate and graduate) who are attending the annual meeting.

You DO NOT have to present a paper to compete or receive this award.

You DO need to be a MEMBER of the AABA at the time of the meeting, and not have been granted your PhD before the submission deadline.

Students from underrepresented groups in biological anthropology, those who are the first in their family to go to college, or are undergraduate students at two-year and four-year colleges (without graduate programs) are strongly encouraged to apply.

Award: Can be used for registration or travel

Winners will be announced February 15, 2024

Application and Essay:

The role of artificial intelligence (AI) in research and education has been a subject of discussion recently as the scientific community grapples with the widespread use of, for example, large language models such as ChatGPT in the classroom. Can AI be used ethically and in a way that is beneficial for multiple communities? Are there ways that it should not be used? How should we as a community move forward with artificial intelligence (should we restrict its use, provide guidelines etc.)? In your essay be sure to provide examples and address the ethical considerations of using AI in the biological anthropology spheres you inhabit (e.g., teaching/education, research/scholarship).

The deadline for submission is January 5, 2024, 11:59pm Pacific Standard Time.

Use references as needed for your answer.

• No more than 750 words long (excluding references).
• Any submission over 750 words will be automatically disqualified.
• References are not counted towards the 750 words and should be included in the same text box with the essay.

Essay evaluation and scoring procedures:

The AABA student prize committee will evaluate each submission with an identification number (assigned by the committee chair) to mask authors’ identities. Applicants who have won a Pollitzer travel award previously are eligible to enter the competition again, but students who have never won before will be given priority.

Awards will be announced February 15, 2024

Further information may be obtained from the Student Programs Committee chair, Chelsey Juarez.

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