Outstanding Student Advocacy and Service Award

2026 Nominations closed on March 17

The ISTSS Student Advocacy and Service Award recognizes a student member of ISTSS who has made significant contributions to public advocacy, clinical work, or service in the field of traumatic stress at the local, national, and/or international level. The award honors students whose efforts have advanced understanding of trauma or improved access to, and quality of services for individuals and communities affected by traumatic events.

Eligibility Criteria

Applications will be evaluated according to the following criteria:

Nominees must be a current ISTSS student member or have been a student member within the past year
Nominees must have been student members at the time the nominated activity was completed
Nominations must be submitted by an ISTSS member

Award Criteria

Demonstrated specific examples of meaningful advocacy and/or clinical service in the field of traumatic stress
Demonstrated involvement with trauma-related organization(s) (e.g., ISTSS or affiliate organizations)
Nominees may or may not have previously held a student membership/leadership role within ISTSS
Additional consideration will be given to applications demonstrating commitment to diversity (broadly defined to include racial, ethnic, gender, religious, sexual identity backgrounds, first-generation students, or individuals residing in low- or middle-income country).

Award Benefits

The awardee will receive:

Complimentary registration to the ISTSS Annual Meeting (excludes Pre-Meeting Institutes)
A commemorative plaque presented at the Annual Meeting
An announcement in Stresspoints, the ISTSS Newsletter

Nomination Requirements

Nominees can be self-nominated or nominated by others
A statement addressing the award criteria (maximum 4,000 characters)
A two-page CV (minimum 10-point font)

**Materials may be submitted in any language. Submissions in languages other than English will be processed using available translation software prior to review by the awards committee.

Nominations submitted after the deadline of March 17, 2026, 11.59pm US Eastern Time, as well as incomplete nominations, or those not adhering to submission requirements (word and page limits) will not be considered.

Recipients

2025: Maja Bruhn
2024: Victoria Nguyen LMSW, MPhil
2022: Phyu Pannu Khin