Proposal for travel grants to students to attend the International Society for the History, Philosophy, and Social Studies of Biology (ISHPSSB) meeting in Brisbane, Australia

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This award is to provide travel awards to graduate students to facilitate attending the biennial meeting of the International Society for the History, Philosophy, and Social Studies of Biology (ISHPSSB) to be held July 12-16, 2009 at Emmanuel College in St. Lucia, Brisbane, Australia. ISHPSSB is a professional society that brings together scholars from diverse disciplines, including the life sciences as well as history, philosophy, and social studies of science. Apart from ISHPSSB meetings, there are few opportunities for historians, philosophers, and social scientists of biology who are committed to interdisciplinarity to interact with one another and with practicing scientists. The interactions that occur improve scholars? work in progress and establish ties that promote opportunities to engage in collaborative research in the future. Such opportunities are no less important, and arguably even more important, for graduate students than for established faculty. This is the first of the society?s biennial meetings to be held in the southern hemisphere.The society is concerned that the high cost of travel to Brisbane will disproportionately affect graduate students, and as a result, this group will be underrepresented at the meeting. This could have a negative impact on the quality of the meeting, governance of the society, and the career paths of students. Although ISHPSSB has a strong record of supporting graduate student participation at its biennial meetings, the society lacks the financial resources to be able to subsidize travel to Brisbane at a level comparable to what has been provided in the past. This is due to the high cost of travel to Brisbane and the fact that only a handful of student members live in Asian and Pacific Rim countries. Because almost one-half of ISHPSSB's student members live in the US, the ability to offer NSF-funded travel awards will significantly bolster the number of graduate students at the Brisbane meeting as well as the number of US participants overall.