Transportation Scholars Program

CTRE's Transportation Scholars program is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Transportation's University Transportation Center at the Iowa State University (the Midwest Transportation Consortium). The program attracts high-quality students into transportation-related disciplines. ISU Transportation Scholars are required to work on research projects, take a semester seminar course, and participate in CTRE-sponsored student activities.

Program Requirements

The following are the requirements for participation in the Transportation Scholars program: 

• a minimum 3.0 grade point average each semester 
• meet all requirements of the Graduate College in order to qualify for tuition reduction
• be enrolled on a full-time basis each semester during the academic year (See the Graduate Student Handbook for these requirements.) 
• provide a minimum of 20 hours per week service as a research assistant on a transportation related project
• attend the weekly transportation seminars held each spring semester. If you have already taken Transportation 691 for credit, you are still expected to attend every presentation. These presentations provide an excellent opportunity for you to meet transportation professionals and learn about transportation occupations. 
• compete, at least once during your graduate program, in the annual student research paper contest (held in November each year) 

Transportation Seminar

One special feature of the Transportation Scholars program is the Transportation Seminar, presented weekly during the spring semester and featuring nationally and internationally-recognized speakers. The seminar has become an important feature of graduate transportation education at ISU and is broadcast real-time to students at the University of Northern Iowa and other sites via the Iowa Communications Network. The ICN allows viewers at remote sites to actively participate in the seminar. Spring seminars

Transportation Scholars Conference

A Transportation Scholars Conference is held every fall semester at ISU, during which students present research papers written for the previous spring semester's Transportation Seminar series. The papers are judged by an outside panel, and the author of the best paper is awarded a cash prize. 

For more information about ISU's Transportation Scholars program, contact David Plazak, dplazak@iastate.edu.