Marsh W. White Awards

Program Overview

Marsh W. White Awards are made to SPS chapters to support projects designed to promote interest in physics among students and the general public. The Marsh W. White Award dates back to 1975 and is named in honor of Dr. Marsh W. White for his long years of service to Sigma Pi Sigma. Dr. White has served as Executive Secretary (1930-67), President (1968-70), and Historian (1970-90) of Sigma Pi Sigma.

Applications Open: September 1

Applications Due: November 15

Apply here!

Award at a Glance

Several awards of up to $600 may be made each year
Awarded to chapters for activities that promote interest in physics among students and the general public

Eligibility

Applicants must be SPS chapters in good standing with the SPS national organization
The project leader must be a student that is a member of the SPS national organization

Application Procedure

Chapters must complete an online application (only one Marsh W. White Award proposal per chapter will be accepted)
Although approval from the SPS Chapter Advisor is required, the planning and writing of the proposal are the responsibility of the SPS student members
To complete the application, chapters must upload a proposal and budget detailing their proposed activity, chapters should follow the guidelines provided in the proposal templates below when constructing their proposals

Marsh White Award Proposal Template (.doc)

Marsh White Award Budget Template (.xls)

Marsh White Award Final Report Template (.doc)

How to Use SPS Award Templates
SPS award templates are designed to help chapters craft effective proposals and reports and enable SPS Award reviewers to better compare proposals to each other. Chapters do not need to submit award proposals and reports with the same formatting as the templates, but they can. Chapters that plan to use their own formatting should read through the template in detail before writing the proposal to learn exactly what should be included. Chapters that plan to use the formatting in the template should read through the template in detail, then simply add their own text under each heading and delete the explanatory text (in purple). Please contact the SPS National Office, SPS-Programs [at] aip.org if you need a template in another format.

Proposal Review

From among the proposals submitted by chapters, a panel of reviewers selects several of the most meritorious for Marsh W. White Awards. Honorable mentions may be made.

Details for Awardees

Awardees are required to log back into the FluidReview system to upload a group picture, submit the Tax Id Number for their institution, and input press contacts at their institutions in order to accept their award
Upon acceptance of the award, a check for one-half of the award amount will be sent to the SPS chapter with the understanding that the funds are to be used for the purpose set forth in the successful proposal
Awardees must carry out their proposed project and submit a final report by May 31 of the academic year in which they received their award, or they may be asked to return funding. Chapters should follow the guidelines provided in the template below when constructing their final report FILE
Upon submission of a complete report by May 31, the chapter will receive a check for the second half of the award amount. If the chapter did not spend the full award amount on the project, the check will be for the outstanding amount
Marsh White Final Report Template (.doc)