Eligibility
Application to the St. Jude National Graduate Student Symposium (NGSS) and Future Fellow Research Conference (FFRC) is by invitation only to a select group of PhD students who have either met a St. Jude recruiter or have been nominated by a faculty member from their university. To be considered for the 2023 NGSS or FFRC, please complete the online application form and submit all requested supporting documentation before 11:59 p.m. Central Time on Sunday, November 20, 2022. Only complete applications submitted before the deadline will be considered by the selection committee.
Participation in the NGSS and FFRC is limited to US citizens and Permanent Residents enrolled in PhD programs at institutions located within the United States at the time of application (no exceptions). 2023 NGSS and FFRC participants should plan to defend their PhD before August 2024, but must not defend their PhD before either symposium. Additionally, participants are required to have not committed to a postdoctoral position before the symposia dates.
Attendance
Students selected to participate in either the NGSS or FFRC are required to attend for the entire duration of the symposium. Students will be assigned to an event based upon their research area.
The 2023 NGSS will be held March 28 – 30, 2023. Participants will be required to present their PhD research in both oral and poster format, and there will be opportunities to interact with and meet postdoctoral fellows and St. Jude faculty members. The 2023 FFRC will be held June 6 – 8, 2023. The format of the FFRC will be similar to the NGSS; however, there will be no oral presentation component. Please note that a final decision regarding on-site events will not be made until the new year. If the NGSS and FFRC are unable to be held on-campus, they will proceed virtually.
Travel arrangements for participants will be made by the St. Jude Travel Office per St. Jude travel policies. The NGSS and FFRC schedules and transportation cannot accommodate companion travel or the inclusion of individuals other than selected participants in symposia events. Please review the NGSS and FFRC schedules outlined in your email invitation and verify that you are available to participate in NGSS events any time on Tuesday, March 28 through Thursday, March 30, and in FFRC events from Tuesday, June 6 through Thursday, June 8, 2022.
Application Requirements
In your application, you will be required to list at least five St. Jude Faculty members with whom you would be interested in meeting during the NGSS or FFRC to discuss their work. A faculty list is available at: stjude.org/faculty-mentors.
Your CV and an abstract of the research you would like to present at the NGSS or FFRC must be submitted with your application. Only CVs and abstracts submitted as Microsoft Word documents will be accepted. Your CV must not exceed four pages in length. Abstracts are limited to 350 words and must contain the title and list of authors at the top of the Word document (title and authorship lines do not count towards the word limit). Abstracts should not include figures.
Students selected to participate in the NGSS or FFRC will be required to present a poster on their submitted abstract. The abstract and abstract title submitted with your application will be used to advertise your poster presentation at the NGSS or FFRC.
A letter of support from your thesis advisor is also required for your application to be considered. This letter must be submitted on the provided reference form and must be emailed directly from your advisor to Enolia Marr at NGSS@stjude.org before 11:59 p.m. Central Time on Sunday, November 20, 2022. You will be asked to verify that you have sent the reference form that was attached to your email invitation to your thesis advisor, and to provide your advisor’s name and email address on the application form.
Please be prepared to submit the above information and materials before you begin filling out the application form.