The Graduate School will once again present the Samuel B. Barker Awards for Excellence in Graduate Studies. The Barker Awards are given to graduate students who represent the highest level of student achievement in a UAB graduate program. Graduate students who will graduate in the Spring, Summer, or Fall of the calendar year, may be nominated for "the Barker award" by their department's graduate program director. The Dean of the Graduate School chooses one master's student and one doctoral student from the group of nominees to receive the honor.

The selection committee scores each of the following categories when reviewing nominations:

• GPA
• Research (working in lab or on grant, leadership roles, applied for own funding, awarded funding)
• Fellowships (applied for or awarded, excluding Blazer Fellowship)
• Awards (UAB or society/community)
• Strength of the letters of reference
• Strength of publications
• Presentations (external to UAB given higher score)
• Service (UAB, Community, or Military)
• Teaching (TA, tutor, course lead, guest lecturer)

Nominations include the completed nomination form (email kimeaton@uab.edu for the nomination form), the student’s curriculum vitae and two letters of support explaining why the program has selected the student for nomination. Nominations must be submitted no later than January 24, 2024, to Kimberly Eaton (kimeaton@uab.edu).