SSigma Xi, The Scientific Research Honor Society
Partially funded
Sigma Xi Grants in Aid of Research
Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Honor Society, United States
Scholarship overview
Sigma Xi's Grants in Aid of Research (GIAR) programme has supported undergraduate and graduate student research since 1922, with an emphasis on hands-on learning and close student-mentor working relationships. Requests from all disciplines of science are considered.
US citizenship and residence are not required, and international applicants are welcome. The grants fund project research costs, not tuition or living costs.
Sigma Xi strongly encourages applications from women and underrepresented minorities.
Award Information
- US citizenship and residence are not required; international applicants are welcome.
- Currently enrolled in a degree-seeking undergraduate or graduate programme.
- Graduating seniors must plan to complete the research before graduation.
- Sigma Xi membership is not required, but designated funds go to members or applicants whose primary advisor is a member.
- Maximum of two grants per applicant; a second grant requires a Follow-up Report Form submitted before the new application deadline.
- Co-workers on the same project may submit separate applications, each showing a unique contribution.
- Members (or students with member advisors), graduate: US$500 to US$5,000.
- Members, undergraduate: US$500 to US$2,000.
- Non-members and inactive members (graduate or undergraduate): up to US$1,000.
- Astronomy research: up to US$5,000 regardless of membership.
- Vision research with implications for human vision: up to US$2,500 regardless of membership.
- Funded: specific project equipment, travel to and from a research site, project-specific supplies not generally available in an institutional lab, reimbursement of human subjects.
- Not funded: travel to meetings, tuition, room and board, textbooks, standard lab supplies, salaries or stipends, publication costs, indirect costs.
- Spring cycle: deadline March 15 (application opens December 15; decisions emailed at the end of May; funds by early June).
- Fall cycle: deadline October 1 (application opens July 1; decisions emailed in the first week of January; funds by late January).
- Applications close at midnight Pacific Time on the deadline date.
- Create an account on the online GIAR application portal and, if needed, for your reference writer.
- Prepare a project proposal and a budget that justifies any item not clearly project-specific.
- Submit the online application and the required recommendation form before the deadline.
Official links
Documents you will need
- Online application form with project proposal and budget.
- Recommendation form.
- Follow-up Report Form (second grant only).
How selection works
Reviewers are professional career researchers matched to proposals by general field. They know laboratory standards for equipment and materials, so budget items open to interpretation need added justification.
