THE SOCIETY FOR INTEGRATIVE AND COMPARATIVE BIOLOGY

Division of Invertebrate Zoology

Libbie H. Hyman Memorial Scholarship

For the 2027 Summer Field Station Season

This scholarship, in memory of Libbie H. Hyman, one of America's foremost invertebrate zoologists, provides assistance to students to take courses or to pursue research on invertebrates at a marine, freshwater, or terrestrial field station. The Hyman Scholarship is intended to help support a first meaningful field-station experience for an advanced undergraduate or early graduate student.

ELIGIBILITY and AWARD PARAMETERS:

• Awards are limited to undergraduates or graduate students currently enrolled in degree programs; priority will be given to advanced undergraduates or early graduate students. Previous recipients of this scholarship are not eligible unless they encountered exceptional circumstances regarding the use of their award and the scholarship committee chair has specifically approved their re-eligibility.
• Applicants do NOT need to be members of SICB.
• Funds must be used to support coursework or research on invertebrates at a field station. The award does not support fieldwork that is not based at a field station.
• Most awards are in the range of $1000-$5000. When preparing your application, include a complete and detailed budget, even if it exceeds $5000.
• Priority will be given to projects that represent the first significant field station experience for a student. We advise applicants to address in their materials how their proposed project would work towards this goal.
• This award supports in-person field station experiences; funds are not transferrable to alternative activities. In the event that a scholarship recipient is unable to pursue the activities detailed in their proposal (e.g., due to unforeseen travel restrictions, course cancellation, or health issues) the recipient must inform the scholarship committee, which will review each case individually. If it is determined that the recipient will not be able to use the funds for an eligible experience, the funds will be retained by SICB and the recipient will be allowed to apply in future funding cycles (subject to all other eligibility requirements).
• Awardees are expected to produce a brief report on their experiences, which will be published in the SICB DIZ newsletter. You can find examples of previously funded projects (both research and coursework) in past SICB DIZ newsletters.

How to apply: Read the instructions carefully, fill in the online application form, and upload transcripts as directed. Letters of recommendation will be uploaded directly by the recommenders. Recommenders will NOT automatically receive a link from the system; it is the responsibility of the applicant to ensure that letters of recommendation are submitted to the website, with the correct student information, by the deadline.

For questions regarding the program, contact the chair of the Libbie H. Hyman Memorial Scholarship Committee:

Dr. Abigail Cahill

Biology Department, Albion College

Phone: 517-629-0570

acahill@albion.edu

 

 

GUIDELINES FOR SUBMITTING A PROPOSAL

• Applications and letters of recommendation must be submitted electronically following the instructions and using the forms provided at this website.
• Complete applications consist of a proposal (see forms below), two letters of reference from faculty members, and copies of undergraduate and graduate transcripts. Graduate student applicants must submit transcripts from graduate AND undergraduate programs. All materials, including both letters of reference, must be received by the deadline for the application to be considered.
• The student should write the proposal, preferably with the advice of their major professor. However, the major professor should not do the writing, since this will defeat an important part of the process. The text of the proposal should indicate why this field station research or coursework is important to the student’s career goals and what they hope to gain from the experience. Do not use AI to write your proposal.
• A form for the proposal is available on this page. You must use this form to submit your application. If you experience problems using the form, contact the webmaster by email.
• The form has fields for requested information. You must fill in all fields unless noted otherwise. The electronic submittal system will not accept any empty fields! Limits of field length apply.
• Please proofread your application before you submit it.
• Complete the online form, proofread it again, and submit it via the web to SICB.
• Copies of official or unofficial undergraduate and graduate transcripts should be combined into a SINGLE PDF file no more than 2MB in size. The file must be uploaded as part of the application process.
• Letters of recommendation must be submitted via a separate online form at https://sicb.burkclients.com/grants/hyman/hymanletterform.php. It is critical that each recommender enters the exact email address that the applicant has used in the application. We use an automated system to attach the letters to the appropriate application using the submitted email address information. If the email addresses do not match, the letter of support will not be attached to the application and the application will not be complete.
• It is the applicant's responsibility to ensure that letters of recommendation are submitted to the website, with the correct student information, by the deadline. Applicants will receive an email notification when each letter of support has been submitted.
• Note that recommenders will not automatically receive the link to upload letters. Applicants, please make sure to get the upload link to your letter writers with enough time to submit the letter.
• The closing date for the receipt of applications (including transcripts) AND supporting letters will be February 12, 2027. Notification of awards will occur by March 19, 2027.

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SICB - APPLICATION FORM FOR LIBBIE H. HYMAN MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP
DEADLINE: February 12, 2027

APPLICANT:

Name:
Education Institution (in which you are currently enrolled):
Institutional Mailing Address (Include Department, University, and Street Address):
City:
State/Province:
Zip/Postal Code:
Country:
Work Phone:
Applicant’s Email Address **(Make sure you provide this EXACT address to your letter writers!):

Undergraduate Year 1 2 3 4 5 6     or Graduate Year 1 2 3 4 5 6

Recommendations:

List the name, address, telephone #, and email address of the two faculty members who will write your letters of recommendation. It is expected that the recommenders will have received copies of the completed proposal before writing their letters. MAKE SURE THAT YOU HAVE NOT MISTYPED ANY EMAIL ADDRESS SINCE IT CAN JEOPARDIZE YOUR APPLICATION!!!

Faculty Member 1

Name:
Institutional Address (Dept, Univ):
City:
State/Province:
Zip/Postal Code:
Country:
Work Phone:
E-mail:

Faculty Member 2

Name:
Institutional Address (Dept, Univ):
City:
State/Province:
Zip/Postal Code:
Country:
Work Phone:
E-mail:

PURPOSE: Are you applying for funds to support attending a course, doing research, or both? Course Research Both


NAME, PHYSICAL ADDRESS, AND WEBSITE ADDRESS OF FIELD STATION where you propose to attend a course or conduct your research:



DURATION OF THE PROPOSED FIELD STATION EXPERIENCE:


PROPOSED COURSEWORK OR RESEARCH ON INVERTEBRATES -- LIMIT OF 3000 CHARACTERS INCL. SPACES
Your answer should address why this field station research or coursework is important to your career goals and what you hope to gain from the experience.
If you copy and paste your text, note that wordprocessor formatting is usually not retained (except paragraph/line breaks). You can use HTML-tags to indicate <b>bold</b> or <i>italic</i>text. Don't forget the closing tag unless you wish the rest of the text to be in bold or italic! The tag-characters count towards the total character limit, and the character count also includes invisible formatting characters for newline and/or paragraph that your word processor adds. These rules apply to all text fields on this page.



Have you SPENT TIME at a FIELD STATION? Yes    No


Please ASSIGN A NUMBER TO EACH PREVIOUS FIELD STATION EXPERIENCE, and for EACH one, provide: a) field station name, b) field station website, c) duration of time over which you worked, conducted research, or took classes at the field station d) a specific classification: IN RESIDENCE (spent 1 or more nights) or COMMUTING (no overnight stays). LIMIT 800 CHARACTERS INCLUDING SPACES.



FOR EACH PREVIOUS FIELD STATION EXPERIENCE please DESCRIBE your activities (use the assigned number to identify the relevant experience). (LIMIT OF 800 CHARACTERS INCL. SPACES)



BRIEF BUDGET (Itemize the support needed. LIMIT OF 800 CHARACTERS, INCL. SPACES):



INSTITUTIONAL OR OTHER SOURCES OF SUPPORT. Please clearly detail the status of each (e.g. pending or secured), with a rough estimate of the dollar amount (LIMIT OF 400 CHARACTERS, INCL. SPACES):




Copies of Transcripts
Copies of official or unofficial undergraduate and (if applicable) graduate transcripts should be combined into a SINGLE PDF file no more than 2MB in size.

Select file to be sent:


<<< Clicking on this button will submit your application and transcript file.
Make sure your application is complete!