Overview
Named to honor the memory of Victoria Finnerty, this award helps support costs for undergraduates presenting their Drosophila research at the Annual Drosophila Research Conference.

Finnerty was a long-time member of the Genetics Society of America and served the Drosophila community and the genetics community at large in many capacities. Her ground-breaking work as a graduate student used high-resolution recombination analysis to dissect gene structure. This set the stage for a 35-year career in which she excelled as a gifted teacher as well as a research scientist.

Finnerty was known for her creativity and dedication to training undergraduates in Drosophila genetics; her passion for the field of genetics was contagious. Vickie was a wise, compassionate mentor and teacher for whom interactions with her students was a constant joy. She constantly sought new ways to engage undergraduates in their genetics courses and in research; the Victoria Finnerty Undergraduate Award continues her stellar example.

Application Process
Apply via the button at the top of this page (available close to the application open date). You will need to sign in using your GSA member account details to access the form. In your application, you will request a letter of recommendation from the principal investigator of the laboratory in which you are conducting research or another professor or supervisor familiar with your research. Your reference will receive an email with an upload link and must upload your letter of recommendation by the deadline. Please alert them in advance of submitting your application that they will need to upload their letter of recommendation.

Eligibility
Applicants must be current GSA members who are undergraduate students. Recipients may only use the award to fund their travel or registration to present Drosophila research at the Annual Drosophila Research Conference or The Allied Genetics Conference.

Important Dates
The applications will open August 1, 2024 and close October 2, 2024.

Letters of Recommendation are due October 2, 2024.

Support Undergraduate Drosophila Research
The Victoria Finnerty Undergraduate Travel Awards are made possible by generous contributions from our donors. Please consider contributing to support our community’s early career members.