See Calendar for Meeting Dates & Abstract Deadlines
Recent Recipients

Purpose

A limited number of grants, on the order of $200 each, will be offered to help fund SPS members' travel to a national meeting of an AIP Member Society holding a "SPS Session" co-organized by SPS and the Member Society. Examples of qualifying events include the SPS sessions at national meetings of the American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT), the American Physical Society (APS), the American Geophysical Union (AGU), the American Astronomical Society (AAS), and other AIP Member Societies.

Goals

1. Provide experience for students, especially but not exclusively undergraduates, in presenting papers at national meetings
2. Raise the visibility of SPS in the eyes of the Member Societies;
3. Increase the involvement of SPS in the national physics community;
4. Encourage physics departments to invest in the extracurricular professional development of their students by providing matching funds for the students' travel.

Criteria for Meetings and Applications

Eligible meetings are national meetings of an AIP Member Society where SPS has a visible presence through a contributed session for students, co-organized by SPS and the Member Society. Meetings eligible for SPS Travel Award support will be announced in advance with a call for abstracts issued in the SPS Newsletter or special announcements. Such announcements will provide details such as deadline dates.

All SPS members are eligible for Travel Award support to the designated national meetings. Prior presentations at SPS Zone Meetings will be viewed favorably, but does not guarantee support. Abstracts will be reviewed analogous to the process applied to papers submitted for publication in a journal.

Applications Procedure

The student's abstract is sent to the SPS National Office for evaluation by a review committee. Accepted abstracts are forwarded to Member Society for inclusion in the SPS Session. SPS pays the abstract fee. The travel funds are awarded prior to the meeting.

Should the students not be able to present the paper; the travel funds must be returned to SPS (exceptions may be considered when another student presents the paper on the original presenter's behalf). The student is responsible for registering for the meeting and making his/her own travel, lodging, and meal arrangements. The SPS National Office will forward relevant housing and lodging information from Member Society announcements.

Program Support

The SPS Travel Award is funded, in part, by the generosity of Sigma Pi Sigma members through the Sigma Pi Sigma Alumni and Trust Funds.