Attention all geospatially-inclined students, faculty, and professionals in the greater Memphis area:
We are pleased to welcome all geospatially-inclined students and faculty in the greater Memphis area to participate in the Spring 2025 Memphis Area Collegiate Geospatial Showcase! The showcase event offers an opportunity for college undergraduate and graduate students to demonstrate their GIS proficiency to an audience of GIS professionals in order to earn financial assistance towards their education and/or research, thanks to our generous members and sponsors. In this year’s event, the Memphis Area Geographic Information Council (MAGIC) will award $3,500 in scholarships and/or awards (depending on the student’s eligibility) in a competition open to both undergraduate and graduate students. Students from any college or university in the greater Memphis area are welcome to participate, and participants will give a 15-minute presentation on a GIS-related project they’re working on. Eligibility guidelines, scoring criteria, and an application form are available below.
When: Friday, April 25 from 1:00 - 5:00 PM
Where: Rhodes College | Hyde Hall
Eligibility and Requirements
The applicant must be an undergraduate or graduate student currently enrolled and in good standing at a college or university in the area served by MAGIC.
The applicant must be enrolled Full-Time or at a minimum must have completed at least 12 credit hours in consecutive semesters. Graduate students taking fewer hours will need to provide a note from an advisor confirming their good standing.
The applicant may be from any academic discipline; however, the project undertaken must involve GIS.
The applicant must submit a completed application (available here). Please include a photo (jpeg) of yourself so we can feature you and your project on our website.
The applicant must be available to give a 15-minute presentation on his/her work. In-person presentations are highly encouraged. The Education Committee will review requests to present virtually on a case-by-case basis.
MAGIC will be given permission to use the resulting project materials, copies of the materials, or reference the materials, to promote the scholarship program and to advance the mission of MAGIC. Actual ownership of resulting materials will remain with the applicant.
MAGIC Board members, Education Committee members, and their immediate family members are ineligible to apply.
Preference will be given to projects based in the Mid-south area.
dates and Evaluation
Written applications must be submitted by Wednesday, April 2, 2025.
The MAGIC Education Committee will evaluate and score all written applications based on the information provided by the applicant and select the scholarship finalists, who will be notified by Wednesday, April 9, 2025.
Finalists must give a 15-minute presentation outlining their project/work during the Memphis Area Collegiate Geospatial Showcase on Friday, April 25, 2025, 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM. An additional 5 minutes will be allowed for questions.
Presentations will be evaluated and scored by the MAGIC Education Committee. The MAGIC Board of Directors will award scholarships, based on the recommendations of the Scholarship subcommittee. The Board reserves the right to withhold scholarships if requirements or eligibility are not met.
The announcement of the awards will be made at the closing of the Showcase event on April 25.
Disbursement schedule is at the Board's discretion.
Scoring criteria for both the written application and presentation are available here.
Purpose
Education is a central component of the Memphis Area Geographic Information Council’s (MAGIC) mission. The purpose of the MAGIC Academic Scholarship program is to encourage and support students’ education through the completion of commendable GIS projects. MAGIC hopes to award scholarships annually, available to any qualifying undergraduate student enrolled in a college or university in areas served by MAGIC.
Our generous members and sponsors have made it possible to offer academic scholarships since 2013. We are proud to support the new generation of GIS professionals through our Student Scholarship Program.
