The Department of Molecular & Integrative Physiology (MIP) at the U-M Medical School offers several awards to support and recognize the achievements of MIP PhD graduate students. These include the Graduate Education Fund Travel Awards, which support travel grants for students attending and presenting research at scientific conferences or career development opportunities.
The rewards highlight students' academic records, teaching excellence, outstanding research achievements, service contributions, and innovative research with translational relevance. Each award comes with an honorarium and celebrates the dedication and accomplishments of MIP graduate students.
Graduate Education Fund Travel Awards
MIP has established an endowment fund to help support career development and training opportunities for MIP PhD Graduate students. The fund supports travel grants to MIP students who are attending and presenting research at scientific conferences or travelling to conferences for career development opportunities.
To request travel support from the Graduate Education Fund, students should first apply for a Rackham Travel Award and then submit a copy of the student’s Rackham application to the Graduate Program Coordinator requesting additional support. Typically students will be eligible for one award per year.
Learn more about the Rackham Travel Award
Davenport Research Award
This award was established in 2005 in the name of Horace W. Davenport who was internationally recognized for his research and scholarship on gastric physiology and pathophysiology. He was also an outstanding teacher, historical scholar, author, and mentor. He is recognized for advancing the high profile recognition of the Department of Physiology at the University of Michigan. This award recognizes outstanding research achievement by an MIP student or a student performing their dissertation research in the lab of an MIP faculty member.
Recipients are determined by relevance, quality and presentation of their work as judged from research publications, a scientific abstract describing the work and its relevance, and a platform talk at the Graduate Research Symposium. Honorariums for the Davenport Award are $500 to the Davenport Award winner and $100 to each finalist.
Vander Teaching Award
This award was established in recognition of Professor Arthur Vander, a former member of the departmental faculty and widely known as an outstanding teacher, mentor and scholar. It is awarded each year to an MIP student in recognition of outstanding teaching in the Physiology 201 course, as determined by student evaluations and comments of faculty observers. A $250 honorarium accompanies this award.
Bean Award for Academic Excellence
Professor John Bean was one of our first graduate students and he obtained his doctorate in 1930. Dr. Bean went on to have a long and successful career in the Physiology Department at Michigan, reaching the rank of professor in 1944. This award was made possible by Dr. Bean and is given to the second year MIP student who has attained the best academic record during the pre-candidate years. A $250 honorarium accompanies this award.
Schwartz Innovative Translational Research Award
This award was established by the family and friends of Dr. Andrew Schwartz, an MIP PhD program alumni alumnus whose promising career as a biomedical scientist was tragically cut short by cancer at the age of 31 in 2022. Andrew was the winner of the John Bean and Davenport Research Award from the MIP Department and received a Distinguished Dissertation Award from the Rackham Graduate School. After completing his PhD, Andrew pursued a career in translational research at the Novartis Institute.
The purpose of the award is to honor the memory of Andrew and recognize the research accomplishments of an MIP graduate student whose research has translational relevance for understanding or treating human disease.
Williams Service Award
This award was established in the name of Professor John Williams who served as Chair of the Department from 1987 to 2008. This award recognizes outstanding student participation and service to MIP, the University, and science on a broad scale. Service and development of a sense of community are highly important to professional growth and MIP provides opportunities for students to gain experience in this arena. An honorarium of $250 accompanies this award.
