The Official Program for AbGradCon is now available online. Participants are highly encouraged to make primary use of the official AbGradCon App to access the program.

I'm very happy to announce that this year AbGradCon has received additional sponsorship from the Earth-Life Science Institute (ELSI), and the ELSI Origins Network. Their generosity has allowed us to invite a greatly increased number of international participants this year.

Due to popular demand, the application deadline will be extended to Monday, March 13th at 23:59 submitter's local time. Please take advantage of this additional time to apply if you have not already!

Due to popular demand, the application deadline will be extended three days, to Thursday, February 9th at 23:59 submitter's local time. Please take advantage of this additional time to apply if you have not already!

The AbGradCon virtual undergraduate poster competition is a unique opportunity for undergraduate researchers to practice discussing their current work in a professional format. This year, we ask that students submit a 5 minute video to accompany their poster. The first place winner will be invited to attend AbGradCon 2017 as a fully funded participant to present their poster at the conference. Second and third place videos will be presented at the conference by the organizers, or by the applicant if they can provide their own funding. In addition, other exceptional applicants may be invited to present their work at AbGradCon 2017 if they can provide their own funding. Posters will be judged by a team of individuals selected by the AbGradCon organizing committee, mostly consisting of graduate students from diverse backgrounds. Submission deadline is March 6th, 2017. Please visit the UGPC section of the About page for more information about the AbGradCon undergraduate poster competition.

Click here to go directly to the application.

Application Deadline: March 6th, 2017

Application submission is now open for AbGradCon 2017 and the 2017 Proposal Writing Retreat. The application form is available here.

Application Deadline: February 6th, 2017

On behalf of the AbGradCon 2017 Organizing Committee, I'm excited to announce that AbGradCon 2017 will be hosted by the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Charlottesville, VA from June 5-9, 2017. The conference venue and attendee lodging will be at the Omni Hotel in Historic Downtown Charlottesville. Applications will open in mid-December, with a deadline in early February.

The Proposal Writing Retreat (PWR), formerly known as the Research Focus Group (RFG), will take place at the Green Bank Observatory in Green Bank, WV from June 2-5, 2017. Applicants for AbGradCon will be able to apply for PWR at the same time as they submit their AbGradCon application. We have funds to support a limited number of participants (approximately 20), although we can accommodate more participants if they are able to provide some or all of their own funding.

Please check back with the website regularly over the next few days and weeks for announcements including the abstract submission deadline, additional details on the PWR, and info on the Undergraduate Poster Competition.

Links to our social media accounts are on the sidebar. You are welcome to engage with these accounts in order to communicate with other early career scientists. However, please be aware that this website will be the most up-to-date, so please check back here if you want to receive information in a timely manner.

Thanks for taking an interest in AbGradCon 2017; we're all very excited about what we have in store for everyone this year!