We apologize for the inconvenience, however the ASD Student Programs (Goetz and Students in Mining & Energy) have been temporarily placed on hold. Please check this web page for further updates.
The Students in Mining & Energy TerraSpec Instrument Program was established by ASD to enhance innovation in the mining industry through advances in mineral measurement analysis.
The Students in Mining & Energy Program encourages a creative research environment within the global mining educational community by providing temporary use of a TerraSpec 4 mineral analyzer or a TerraSpec Halo mineral identifier to graduate students for mining, geology, energy or geothermal related research.
Recipients of the TerraSpec 4 mineral analyzer will have access to The Spectral Geologist (TSG™) mineral analysis software, which uses the high quality spectra data captured using the instrument to easily sort and analyze mineral data.
Each recipient will also be eligible to receive up to a total of $500 to cover publication charges (if the resulting paper is published in an approved publication) and/or travel assistance for presentation of an accepted abstract at a relevant scientific conference. Proposal submissions must be received by Nov. 16, 2018. This deadline is firm so that the review committee can consider applications during the following month and select recipients. Winners will be announced in January 2019.
This program encourages novel, unconventional and/or fundamental research. Proposals should be inventive, might be opportunistic, and need not have an immediate practical application or guarantee of success. Additional consideration will be given to proposals that bridge boundaries between traditional disciplines.
Graduate students pursuing a Master’s or Ph.D. within an accredited college or university program within the United States or all other countries where Carnet documentation for shipments is accepted, are eligible. Due to difficulties associated with exporting to India, we will be unable to consider any proposals that require an instrument to be taken into India. No more than one submission per researcher will be considered. Students in Mining proposals must be submitted by students.
ASD is allocating one full-range TerraSpec 4 Hi-Res mineral spectrometer system (6 nm NIR resolution at 1001-2500 nm) and one full-range TerraSpec Halo mineral identifier for temporary use during the selected research projects.
Submissions should be no longer than two pages including a description of the objective, why it might be important, whom it includes and how this might extend the frontiers of mining exploration or production. The best proposals will reach beyond an advance of understanding, to define a hypothesis being tested, or a specific objective being sought.
Requests must stipulate the time for which the instrument is requested, including start and completion dates where necessary for seasonal projects. Requests can range from one week to three month (maximum) projects. Please note the length of time an instrument is requested can have an impact in the decision process. A proposal requiring the instrument for a shorter amount of time, or for a more flexible date range, may have a higher probability of selection as long as the proposal meets all other criteria. An award involving split time (i.e. where the instrument is used for a period of time, returned to ASD, and then shipped back for a second period of time), will be considered as long as the split times do not extend into the next award cycle and does not exceed three months in total award time. This policy is established in order to allow a maximum number of awards when possible.
Note: ASD covers shipping to and from the recipient's educational institution only. Recipient is responsible for any transportation in between, and if extra time is required for transport to a research site, this must be factored into your requested time.
Please review official format guidelines for more specific information.
Students granted the use of a TerraSpec mineral analyzer are entitled to a single $500 travel stipend to attend a one-day feasibility and modeling training session at ASD Inc.’s headquarters in Boulder, CO. This training may also be conducted via webinar for those who cannot travel to the ASD office. A stipend will not be awarded to those who choose training via webinar. Each recipient will also be eligible to receive up to a total of $500 to cover publication charges (if the resulting paper is published in an approved publication) and/or travel assistance and oral or poster presentations at a relevant mining conference within 3 years after completion of the project.
After the research effort is complete, recipients are required to provide ASD with a one-page summary of their research and results. Inclusion of supporting photos and visual data are encouraged as well, and are not included in the summary page count. The summary and images may be used by ASD in marketing efforts.
A review committee will be convened with representation from various disciplines, and selection will be determined based upon an objective evaluation of the ideas, without weighting for discipline.
