International Research Group

on Wood Protection

 

Guidelines of the Ron Cockcroft Award

 
  1. The RCA is a merit-based programme to promote international awareness of developments in research in wood protection by providing assistance towards travel and accommodation costs to selected persons enabling them to participate in IRG conferences.
  2. The RCA is intended primarily to assist post-graduate research students and active younger scientists, who, for financial reasons might otherwise be unable to attend an IRG conference. It is available to members and non-members.
  3. An RCA can only be granted once. No present or former members of any IRG Committee may apply for the RCA.
  4. RCA applications shall be submitted by the individual Applicant to the Secretariat by the 15 December prior to the conference, using the application form available on the IRG web site:  www.irg-wp.com
  5. As part of the application, the Applicant must give a clear description, including an abstract, of their intended paper/presentation.
  6. Applications must be supported by two sponsor letters. Normally these should come from IRG Members. One of the sponsor letters must come from an organisation other than that of the Applicant. The RCA Scheme is intended to be merit-based, so sponsors’ letters must clearly describe the qualifications of the Applicant. The value of the applicant’s work, and present explicit reasons why the Applicant should be granted an Award. Sponsors shall not sponsor more than 2 Applicants for any one IRG meeting. Members of the RCA Committee, the President and Secretary-General are excluded from acting as sponsors for Applicants.
  7. Fully valid applications received at the Secretariat by 15 December prior to the conference will be accorded priority when considered by the RCA Committee. It is the Applicants’ responsibility to ensure letters of Sponsorship are received at the Secretariat by the 15 December. An application will only be considered fully valid if the sponsors’ letters of support are received by 15 December.
  8. There is no limit on the number of Applicants allowed from the same department of an Organisation or Institution in the same year. However, multiple awards to a single Institution will only be granted after due regard to the merit of the applications and to a fair and equable distribution of awards amongst different Institutions taking into account the limits of the RCA budget available in any one year.
  9. Recipients of an Award are expected to present a paper on their work in wood protection at the IRG Conference for which the Award is made and are expected to participate throughout the whole Conference for which they received their Award.
  10. Decisions on the granting of any Award will be made by an Award Committee consisting of the immediate Past-President of IRG and the Vice-President. All decisions are final.
  11. Applicants will be informed of the results of the Award Committee by the Secretary-General normally by 1 March prior to the Conference. Applicants must confirm acceptance within two weeks after notification, i.e. normally by 15 March, to the Secretariat.
  12. Awards are not intended to cover the full costs of attending the relevant IRG Conference. Applicants are expected to seek assistance from other sources, which may include a contribution from personal resources. Under exceptional circumstances the total costs may be awarded but at present the total will not exceed SEK 15 000 (SEK=Swedish Kronor). The Award comprises support for travel and accommodation and additionally all registration and attendance fees as well as documents.
  13. Awards are made on condition that the recipient is accommodated for a maximum of 6 nights at the most economical room rate. When deciding the size of the Award, the costs of travel and subsistence en route to and from the Conference are taken into account and these will be limited to those essential for the most direct travel route.
  14. The amount of IRG funds available for Awards each year is proposed by the Finance Committee and decided by the Executive Council for final ratification by the Plenary Meeting. The funds for the RCA Scheme shall be held by the IRG Secretariat in a specific account. Special contributions can be added unconditionally to the RCA Fund. If the annual allocation is not completely used in any one year, the balance will be retained in the RCA Account. Accounts of all monies received and expended will be maintained by the IRG Secretariat and a financial report will be submitted yearly to the Finance Committee.
  15. All recipients of an RCA will receive a Certificate presented at the Conference confirming their Award, which is presented at the Conference for which the Award was made.
  16. To apply for an RCA please use the fillable RCA Application form, IRG/WP/21-60177F.

To download the PDF version of these Guidelines click here.