WST PROGRAMS
The Walter Spohn Trust provides financial support to educational and research projects to advance the field of Anaplastology through diverse giving programs.
Anaplastology Student Scholarship Program
The WST Anaplastology Student Scholarship Program is intended to help anaplastology students gain access to valuable experience and education by offsetting the cost of registration to the International Anaplastology Association Annual Educational Conference. The 2026 IAA Annual Conference will be held in person July 8-11, 2026 in Baltimore, Maryland. This meeting will be an in-person event only. Up to five scholarship recipients will be selected at random on June 1, 2026, and notified of the award by June 5th, 2026. To be eligible for this scholarship, the applicant:
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Must be a current IAA member or must commit to becoming a student member upon selection for this scholarship
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Must be enrolled at least part-time in classes at a college or university
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Must attend in person and participate in the annual IAA conference.
Completed applications should be emailed to info@walterspohntrust.org by June 1, 2026 at 11:59 pm PDT.
This year, the WST Anaplastology Student Scholarship will cover 100% of the Early Bird IAA Student Member Registration Fee for eligible recipients. Note: reimbursement does not cover the Banquet. Scholarship recipients who have not yet registered for the conference will receive instructions on how to register with the Earlybird IAA Student Member Rate ($350) discounted from their registration fee. Those who have already paid the registration fee before being awarded the scholarship will receive a reimbursement.
Anaplastology Research Grant Program
The WST Grant Program is intended to encourage members of the International Anaplastology Association to pursue creative and innovative research or educational projects within the field of facial and somatic prosthetics that will benefit the field as a whole.
The WST Committee seeks to identify people of exceptional talent, focus, logic, and imagination who have ideas for research or educational projects that demonstrate one or more of the following ideas:
• Innovative developments in materials and techniques in anaplastology
• The potential to make a genuine difference in the lives of anaplastology patients
• New approaches to teaching and training students in the field of anaplastology
• Transdisciplinary, interdisciplinary, or multidisciplinary approaches to working with related
professionals in healthcare, education, technology, and other fields
Individuals or research teams are eligible to apply for grant funding. The number of grants awarded and their monetary amounts will vary each year based on the quality of applications and the size of the fund. However, the WST reserves the right to award no grant if the scientific committee is not satisfied with the quality of the proposals.
2026 Grant Dates & Deadlines
May 15th, 2026 - WST begins accepting Grant Application Submissions (online or by mail)
July 15th, 2026 - Deadline to submit WST Grant Application
August 25th, 2026 - Scientific Committee grant application review period begins
October 1st, 2026 - Scientific Committee grant application review period concludes
October 15th, 2026 - WST will notify all applicants of funding decisions
December 1st, 2026 - WST will distribute grant award money to selected recipients
In 2026, the total award amount shall not exceed $5,000 USD.
2026 Grant application
Completed applications should be e-mailed (including all attachments) to: info@walterspohntrust.org
Completed applications must be received by
July 15th.
Student Project Grant Program
Program Overview
The WST Student Project Grant program is intended to fund unique projects conducted by students that explore topics in anaplastology and prosthetic rehabilitation. The projects may include capstone projects, individual course projects, and/or independent study projects.
(The WST Research Grant program is reserved for empirical research projects; please visit https://walterspohntrust.org/programs for more details about all WST funding opportunities).
Eligibility
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Applicants must be currently enrolled in a college or university at the undergraduate, graduate, or post-graduate level. Students enrolled as "non-degree seeking" are also eligible to enroll.
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Students must list an advisor to verify the rigor of the project. Advisors may include course instructors, or program or department faculty. Advisors must be affiliated with the institution where the student is enrolled.
Funding Potential
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Individual awardees will receive $500 USD in support of one's project.
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A maximum of 4 awards will be granted per annual cycle.
Grant Cycle Timeline
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August 31, 2026: Application period opens
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September 30, 2026: Application period closes; SUBMISSIONS ARE DUE BY SEPT. 30 at 11:59pm PDT
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October 15, 2026: Applicants will be notified of award determination
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November 15, 2026: Funds will be distributed to awardees.
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May 2027: Awardees' projects will be featured in the WST Student Project Online Showcase
Selection Criteria
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All eligible applicants will be entered into a lottery. Up to 4 recipients will be awarded funding.
Awardee Participation Requirements
Awardees are expected to agree to the following participation requirements:
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The project output/deliverable/findings must be shared in the form of a poster, paper, or presentation (live or recorded), which will be made accessible to the public via WST promotional channels (website, social media, etc.).
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Awardees will participate in the WST Student Project Online Showcase (late May 2027), a one-time event open to the public; attendees must register online to attend.
Questions
Please submit any questions regarding the 2026 Student Project Grant Program to info@walterspohntrust.org.
IAA Presentation Awards Partnership Program
To encourage outstanding communication of research and case study results in anaplastology, members of the International Anaplastology Association vote upon remarkable oral presentations and posters presented at the Annual IAA Educational Conference. The WST grants a cash prize to the winners of these IAA awards, as a means of honoring their achievements and encouraging the highest standards of effective communication within the anaplastology research end education community.
BCCA Partnership Award
In 1980, Walter Spohn and colleagues founded the American Anaplastology Association (AAA) at Stanford University Medical Center, in Palo Alto, California. Mr. Spohn wanted the AAA to serve as an open and inspiring "Information Exchange," welcoming all of the multidisciplinary specialists involved in prosthetic rehabilitation, and to promote coordination and communication among professionals working along different but related paths in the service of the patient.
At the recommendation of an advisory committee formed in 1997, the membership of the AAA (now the International Anaplastology Association, IAA) voted to establish a certification board in 2000 to follow the guidelines of the National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCCA) — the accrediting body for the agency currently known as the Institute for Credentialing Excellence (ICE). This certification board became the Board for Certification in Clinical Anaplastology (BCCA).
In 2002, the Board for Certification in Clinical Anaplastology was established as a private, autonomous organization and incorporated in the state of South Carolina as a 501(c)(3)s nonprofit mutual benefit corporation.
In 2018, the Walter Spohn Trust became a strategic partner with the BCCA partners ─ working together to achieve objectives that are mutually beneficial for the field of anaplastology. The WST designates fundraising initiatives to sustain the BCCA's mission to promote and provide certification in clinical anaplastology for the enhancement of patient care and professional practice.
Special Funding Requests
The WST Special Funding Request is a giving program designed to fund exemplary projects and ideas that embody the mission of the WST but do not meet the criteria of the WST Grant. If your project falls within the guidelines of the WST Grant, you must apply for that program.
WST Special Funding is determined by the WST Board of Directors based on a project’s potential impact on the field of anaplastology .