The International Light-Cone Advisory Committee continued its recently established McCartor Fund Fellowship program by awarding travel grants to two young scientists at its annual meeting in Cracow, Poland, July 8-13, and another to be given at a forthcoming meeting in Delhi, India, December 10-15. ILCAC was incorporated in the Commonwealth of Virginia in 2008 under SURA sponsorship.
Thanks to a generous gift by Sheila McCartor, Gary McCartor's widow, and generous gifts by Gary's friends, as well as the registration fee waivers from the meeting organizers, two young physicists received the Gary McCartor Travel Awards:
- Lekha Adhikari, who is a PhD student in New Mexico State University supervised by Professor Matthias Burkardt; and
- Christian A. Cruz-Santiago, who is a PhD student in Pennsylvania State University supervised by Professor Anna Stasto.
The two McCartor Fellowships enabled the two awardees to attend either LC2012-Cracow at the Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences in Cracow or LC2012-Delhi at University of Delhi, India. Christian Cruz-Santiago gave his research presentation at the Cracow meeting. Lekha Adhikari will present his research work in Delhi meeting.
During the conference in Cracow, Professor James Vary, chair of the fundraising committee and member of the ILCAC Board of Directors reviewed the aims of the McCartor Fund Fellowship program in assisting promising young scientists in memory of a leading scientist in physics, Gary McCartor. Prof. Vary commented, "Gary not only provided scientific leadership for our field but was very active in developing support for young scientists. In particular, he participated in conceptualizing a fund to provide training and travel support enabling young scientists to develop their expertise and contribute to forefront physics research." He concluded, "This fund was founded after his death and is named for him to honor his achievements and leadership efforts."
On behalf of Sheila McCartor, Prof. Vary presented the fellowship award to Cruz-Santiago at the Cracow meeting. Adhikari will receive his fellowship award in the Delhi meeting in December.
The conference in Cracow attracted 74 participants, including many young researchers who attended this annual meeting for the first time. Judging from the number of youthful attendees, and their excellent presentations, the competition for next year's McCartor Fund Fellowships will be as keen as ever.