The Carl C. Smith Graduate Student Award is among the original awards offered by the Mechanisms Specialty Section. This award honors the career of Carl C. Smith and typifies the commitment of Dr. Smith and his wife Tee to the advancement of graduate education in the field of toxicology. The prestige of this award is well-appreciated among Society members and the field at-large. Applicants are encouraged to submit their best work. The applicant must be a graduate student member of the SOT; applicants with pending membership status may also apply. Applicants must submit an abstract submitted for the 2026 SOT Annual Meeting with the graduate student as the presenting author. The applicant does not have to be a member of the Mechanisms Specialty Section; however, if not a member, one of the letters of recommendation should include a note of sponsorship by a current member of the Mechanisms Specialty Section. PhD candidates at the time of the 2026 SOT Annual Meeting may also apply. Applicants must submit a cover letter simply indicating the metadata associated with the award application. Two letters, preferably from Mechanisms SS members, recommending the graduate student and the research project are also required for each abstract. One recommendation must be from the Department or Section Head. This letter should verify that the work reported in the abstract was done while the student was enrolled in the graduate program. The second letter should be from the research mentor. This letter must include a description of the contribution of the student in the completion of the work, especially when there are multiple authors. If the Department Head and the mentor are the same individual, a second letter must be submitted from another member of the student's dissertation/thesis committee. If neither the Department Head or mentor are members of the Specialty Section, a third letter of sponsorship from a member is required. Please visit the award's website or contact the Society of Toxicology for more information.