Student Projects

Purpose

The purpose of the VaAGC Student Research Award is to support quality graduate-level research that supports the VAAGC vision: To maximize the quality of genetic health care and to improve and promote the practice of genetic counseling in the state of Virginia.

Eligibility

Current Masters of Genetic Counseling students who are in good standing at an accredited program.

Award

The VaAGC plans to fund up to four proposals at a maximum of $500 each. The number of awards may vary depending on the quality of proposals, the requested budget, and the availability of funds.

Important Dates

Proposals must be submitted via e-mail by 11:59 PM EST on March 31, 2023.

Award notification via e-mail by April 21, 2023.

We will announce winners at this year’s Annual Education Conference on April 27-28, 2023.

Questions

Please direct any questions about the award to treasurer@vaagc.com or centralregionrep@vaagc.com.

Proposal Instructions

The proposal consists of the following sections:

• Project Description
• Reference List
• Budget
• Appendices (optional)

Project Description

The Project Description provides an overview of your project aims, rationale, and methods. This section is limited to 500 words (not including references, budget pages, and appendices). Please note, the review committee will not consider any text beyond the first 500 words of the Project Description.

Include the following sections in your Project Description:

• Goal – In one or two sentences, describe what general research question you hope to answer.
• Objectives and/or Hypotheses – Number each specific project objective and, when appropriate, your testable hypothesis for each objective.
• Background – Briefly summarize relevant literature justifying the need for your project and supporting your objectives/hypotheses.
• Methods – Describe, as appropriate, the study design, sample population, recruitment plan, intervention, key variables including instrumentation/measures, and analytic plan. Generally, this section will comprise at least half of the Project Description.
• Limitations – Provide a brief critical assessment of your methods and any anticipated problems. Explain how your project is valuable despite these potential challenges.

Reference List

Within the Project Description use in-text citations and include a separate reference list page. Use either APA or AMA formatting for the citations.

Budget

On a separate page, provide a table itemizing each budget item, and include the total cost of the project. Typically, sections of the budget will include items such as recruitment costs (e.g., advertising), participant honoraria, equipment (e.g., audiovisual recording devices), services (e.g., transcription, statistical consultation), and/or survey/instrumentation fees. If your total budget exceeds $500, explain how you expect to fund the additional cost.

Appendices

If appropriate, you may attach separate documents in appendices (e.g., consent form, survey instrument).

Review Criteria

Proposals will be evaluated on the following:

• Alignment with the VAAGC vision
• Need/rationale for the project
• Innovation
• Feasibility
• Budget appropriateness
• Quality of the proposal

Proposal Submission

Email your proposal as a single attached Word document or PDF file to treasurer@vaagc.com and centralregionrep@vaagc.com.

In your email include your full name and date of anticipated graduation.