Teaching Career Enhancement Award

The APS Teaching Career Enhancement Award (TCEA) is designed to enhance the career potential of regular APS members who hold a rank equivalent to Assistant Professor or above. The award of up to $10,000 allows an individual to develop innovative and potentially widely applicable programs for teaching and learning physiology.

The award can be used either to support short-term visits to other schools to consult with experts who can assist with the development project, to pay for attendance at special courses devoted to methodologies appropriate for the educational development project, or research or development collaborations that will result in products or publications. The award does not include any reimbursement of indirect costs or daily per diem. The award does not pay a salary or daily per diem.

Please note: the awardee is expected to attend the American Physiology Summit (following the awardee announcement) for the award presentation. It is incumbent upon the awardee to assure that they will be able to attend the Summit with their own travel support. The award cannot be deferred to future years.

Applications submitted for the June 28 deadline should request funding for career enhancement activities that will be undertaken after August 1. 

Incomplete applications will not be reviewed. A condition of the award is that successful applicants complete a short survey on the outcomes of their career enhancement activity 3-5 years after its completion.  In addition, the award should be acknowledged in any publications arising from the Teaching Career Enhancement Award activities. The funds for this award should be used within the award year. 

Application materials include the following:

• The goal(s) and measurable objectives for the project. Examples:
  • research abstracts submitted to American Physiology Summit
  • research manuscripts submitted to Advances in Physiology Education,
  • implementation of a new or significantly revised course or unit with a plan for evaluating its effectiveness, and/or
  • other similar outcomes that indicate an improvement in teaching methods and/or a contribution to teaching knowledge.
• The methods that will be used to accomplish these objectives, for example:
  • the experts or collaborators the applicant proposes to visit and what benefits each will bring to the project
  • a detailed description of the research to be undertaken or the course to be develop, and/or
  • a detailed course outline of any course or training that the applicant proposes to attend  and how it will help the applicant accomplish their objectives
• The long-term impacts of this project, for example:
  • a description of how this opportunity will be incorporated into future courses or help the applicant approach their research goals
  • how the project will benefit the applicant’s career, institution and where appropriate, the teaching of physiology in general.
  • how the applicant will share what has been learned with the broader physiology teaching community, e.g. presentations, posters, workshops, publications.
• Applicants must provide a justification for the requested funds, which
  • cannot exceed $10,000 and 
  • Must include a quote for any products/equipment being purchased from vendors.  
• Appropriate approvals by institutional oversight committees, (e.g., IRB, IACUC) or proof of exemption for any educational research study or teaching materials development project involving animals or humans.
• Provide a letter of recommendation from the department chair or  equivalent.
• Provide:
  • a letter from any expert agreeing to the proposed visit and/or
  • a detailed course outline for any course(s) that they propose to attend
• Provide a detailed curriculum vitae.