Sample “Winner” email for GIAR competition (see end for sample non-winner letter)
To: XXXXXXStudent
Subject: 2011 Sigma Xi Grant-in-Aid of Research competition
Cc: YYYYYAdvisor; S Pres; SX Treasurer
Dear XXXXXX,
I am very pleased to inform you that the Ohio State Chapter of Sigma Xi has chosen your Grant-in-Aid of
Research (GIAR) proposal for funding. Yours was among a small number that we were able to fund from
a very large and competitive field. In support of your research, you will receive a check for $500. This
year we have partnered with several corporate sponsors who, like Sigma XI, are very interested in
supporting science and beginning scientists, in order to provide as many GIAR awards as possible. Your
award will be entitled ‘The Sigma Xi/Life Technologies Undergraduate GIAR.’
In additional recognition of your achievement, you will be receiving an invitation to attend the annual
Sigma Xi banquet, to be held on Thursday evening, May 24, 2012. We really hope that you can attend
this important annual event. Among other activities, there is a great dinner (we will cover the cost), a
distinguished national speaker, and a chance to talk with other awardees and scientists from Ohio State
and other nearby institutions. We also hope that you will be able to meet a scientist from the
corporation that sponsored your award and have a chance to discuss your research with them.
We will be listing you soon on our website, along with the title of your research project. We will be
contacting you in early May for a brief paragraph about your project, how you used your award and
perhaps its usefulness to your career and we will also place this on our website. You will find a link to
the National Sigma Xi GIAR program on our website and we encourage you to apply for that award, also.
And check back, we are compiling links to other research awards available to students.
In addition, our Chapter would like to nominate you for membership in Sigma Xi. Your proposal clearly
demonstrates that you are qualified for this honor. Sigma Xi is ‘Scientists Supporting Science,’ across all
scientific and engineering disciplines. As a member, you can help us in that endeavor while benefiting
from our programs, as described briefly in the attached letter. Membership will help you build your cv, is
relatively inexpensive, and includes a subscription to our award-winning ‘American Scientist’ magazine.
If you would like to join Sigma Xi, fill in the information in the top part of the attached application as an
Associate Member and return it to me, along with a copy of your cv. We will take care of the nominating
part at the bottom.
On behalf of the Ohio State Chapter of Sigma Xi, please accept our congratulations on winning this
prestigious, and useful, Grant-in-Aid of Research Award. We hope that it will empower your research.
Please contact our Chapter Treasurer, Prof. Jeffrey McKee (McKee.95@osu.edu) to obtain your award.
Sincerely,
Mitch Masters
Secretary, Ohio State Chapter of Sigma Xi
Dept. of EEOB, Museum of Biodiversity
1315 Kinnear Rd., Columbus, OH 43212
Sample Honorable Mention letter:
Dear XXXXXX,
Thank you for applying to the Ohio State Chapter of Sigma Xi’s Grant-in-Aid of Research competition.
Your proposal was designated Honorable Mention in recognition of its strengths. We received more
applications than we had expected and the competition was intense. Although we did not select your
proposal for funding, it came very close.
In recognition of your achievement your name and proposal title will be listed on the Ohio State Chapter
of Sigma Xi's web site. There you will find a link to the National Sigma Xi GIAR program and we would
encourage you to apply. And check back, we are compiling links to other research awards available to
students.
In additional recognition of your achievement, you will be receiving an invitation to attend the annual
Sigma Xi banquet, to be held on Thursday evening, May 24, 2012. We really hope that you can attend
this important annual event. Among other activities, there is a great dinner (we will cover the cost), a
distinguished national speaker, and a chance to talk with other awardees and scientists from Ohio State
and other nearby institutions.
In addition, our Chapter would like to nominate you for membership in Sigma Xi. Your proposal clearly
demonstrates that you are qualified for this honor. Sigma Xi is ‘Scientists Supporting Science,’ across all
scientific and engineering disciplines. As a member, you can help us in that endeavor while benefiting
from our programs, as described briefly in the attached letter. Membership will help you build your cv, is
relatively inexpensive, and includes a subscription to our award-winning ‘American Scientist’ magazine.
If you would like to join Sigma Xi, fill in the information in the top part of the attached application as an
Associate Member and return it to me, along with a copy of your cv. We will take care of the nominating
part at the bottom.
Congratulations! We wish you good fortune in all your scientific endeavors. And please apply again next
year.
Sincerely,
Mitch Masters
Secretary, Ohio State Chapter of Sigma Xi
Dept. of EEOB, Museum of Biodiversity
1315 Kinnear Rd., Columbus, OH 43212
Sample non-winner letter:
Dear XXXXXX,
Thank you for applying to the Ohio State Chapter of Sigma Xi’s Grant-in-Aid of Research competition.
We received more excellent applications than we had expected and the competition was intense. Your
proposal was not selected for funding.
Our Ohio State Chapter of Sigma Xi's web site has a link to the National Sigma Xi GIAR program and we
would encourage you to apply. There are two deadlines each year and the awards are larger than the
awards from our chapter. And check back, we are compiling links to other research awards available to
students.
In addition, our Chapter would like to nominate you for membership in Sigma Xi. Your proposal clearly
demonstrates that you are qualified for this honor. Sigma Xi is ‘Scientists Supporting Science,’ across all
scientific and engineering disciplines. As a member, you can help us in that endeavor while benefiting
from our programs, as described briefly in the attached letter. Membership will help you build your cv, is
relatively inexpensive, and includes a subscription to our award-winning ‘American Scientist’ magazine.
If you would like to join Sigma Xi, fill in the information in the top part of the attached application as an
Associate Member and return it to me, along with a copy of your cv. We will take care of the nominating
part at the bottom.
We wish you good fortune in all your scientific endeavors. And please apply again next year.
Sincerely,
Mitch Masters
Secretary, Ohio State Chapter of Sigma Xi
Dept. of EEOB, Museum of Biodiversity
1315 Kinnear Rd., Columbus, OH 43212
Sample “invitation to join” letter for a GIAR winner
Dear winner of a Sigma Xi Grant-in-Aid I am the secretary for the Ohio State chapter of Sigma Xi. The purpose of this email is to invite you to
become a member of Sigma Xi. I should have emailed this to you during the school year, but
unfortunately it was one of those things that slipped through the cracks, and I apologize.
Since you are a winner of a Grant-in-Aid of Research, you may already have some idea of what Sigma Xi
is and does, but I'll summarize quickly. Sigma Xi is an international honor society for science and
engineering, having about 60,000 members in over 500 chapters in North America and around the world
(over 200 members have received the Nobel Prize). Joining the society requires election based on
achievement (full membership), as demonstrated by thesis and peer reviewed publications, or research
potential (associate membership). As a winner in the GIAR competition you have demonstrated notable
research potential and are therefore eligible for associate membership (possibly even full membership).
The purpose of the society as a whole is to promote science and engineering in both the lay and
scientific communities. More information about the national society is available at<www.sigmaxi.org/>.
On the local level, our chapter has about 400 members. It was one of the first chapters, founded over
100 years ago in 1898. We engage in a number of activities; the main ones include the awarding of
small Grants-in-Aid of Research to undergraduate and graduate students such as yourself, and
sponsoring public talks by researchers. We are also one of the organizations involved in the Science
Cafe movement, in which researchers meet with interested people in an informal setting to discuss their
work or issues of public interest.
If you are interested in joining, please fill out the attached a nomination form and send it to me, along
with your resume, by campus or regular mail at
Dr. Mitch Masters
Dept. of EEOB
Museum of Biodiversity
1315 Kinnear Rd.
Columbus, OH 43212
You will note that the form requires the signatures of two Sigma Xi full members. If your advisor is a
member, you can ask him to sign, but please do not feel you must find nominators yourself. I will be
happy to do this for you once you send me the form. Our board votes on nominations at their monthly
meetings. Due to the summer break, our next meeting will be in early September, so you can send me
the form any time before then. (If you send it to me later than that, we'll consider your nomination at
our next monthly meeting.) For full-time graduate or undergraduate students, the first-year dues are
$40 (which includes a waiver of local chapter dues), and $35 in subsequent years. These fees apply to
both full and associate members and include a subscription to the journal “American Scientist.”
I hope you will consider joining this worthwhile organization. If you have any questions, please feel free
to contact me at masters.2@osu.edu.
Sincerely,
Mitch Masters
Secretary, Ohio State Chapter of Sigma Xi