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Radford Byerly, Jr. Award is Now Taking Applications

The Center for Science and Technology Policy Research (CSTPR) within the Cooperative Institute for Research in

Environmental Sciences (CIRES) at CU-Â鶹ӰԺ is offering a $1500 award to an eligible CU-Â鶹ӰԺ student.

Background

This award is named in honor of Rad Byerly, who earned a B.A. and M.A. in physics at Williams College, and a Ph.D. in physics at Rice University.  After several years in laboratory research as a postdoctoral fellow at the Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics (JILA), at CU-Â鶹ӰԺ, Rad moved to Washington, D.C., for a long career in science policy.  He served more than twenty years as staff on the Science Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives, ultimately as staff director to Chairman George E. Brown (D-CA) who believed, as did Rad, that government-funded scientific research had a duty to serve society and its citizens as well as to expand knowledge of the natural world.  In the late 1980s Rad also directed the Center for Space and Geosciences Policy at CU-Â鶹ӰԺ, and at the end of his career, delighted in mentoring and working with graduate students at CSTPR/CIRES as they grappled with problems of science, politics, and public policy.

 

Award Eligibility

Applicants must be full-time, CU-Â鶹ӰԺ campus, degree-seeking graduate students in good standing in any academic department.

 

Award Criteria

  • A commitment to making a significant contribution to science and technology policy through a career in academia; state, local, or federal government service; the private sector; voluntary organizations; journalism and the media; or some other form of public service that advances the role of science and technology in service to society.

  • Demonstrated potential for such contributions through publications, community outreach and organization, or paid and/or voluntary employment either on or off campus.

  • High academic achievement.​

 

Application Process

Applicants shall submit a two-page statement describing how they meet the criteria for the award; an unofficial academic transcript; CV; and one letter of recommendation by midnight December 4, 2019 to ami.nacu-schmidt@colorado.edu. The award will be distributed in January 2020.

The award recipient is expected to make one presentation in CSTPR's noontime seminar series on a topic of choice and write one article for the  in Fall 2020.