ISIT Scholarships for Undergraduates from Groups Currently Underrepresented in ITSoc
ITSoc will be providing scholarships for undergraduate students from groups that are currently underrepresented in ITSoc to attend ISIT2021 and ITSoc schools. IEEE membership and registration are covered. Applications are due by Monday, June 7.
May 4, 2021

The IEEE Information Theory Society (ITSoc) is pleased to announce it will be providing scholarships for undergraduate students from groups that are currently underrepresented in ITSoc to attend the 2021 IEEE International Symposium on Information Theory (ISIT). Each scholarship will include a one-year IEEE + a one-year ITSoc student membership and will cover the student registration fee for the ISIT. Registration at ISIT includes all technical sessions, tutorials, plenary talks, and associated social and mentoring events. In addition, a number of the 2021 ITSoc “Schools” will be offered free to ITSoc student members; these scholarships will also allow attendance at those schools.

The purpose of the scholarships is to encourage early participation among undergraduate students from groups currently underrepresented in ITSoc to attend ITSoc events, with the hope that participating students will consider information theory as a field of study. Groups that are currently underrepresented in ITSoc include, but are not limited to, categories defined in the North American context such as African Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans, as well as those populations traditionally underserved by IEEE such as students from Africa, Latin America and the Caribbeans, indigenous communities, economically disadvantaged students, LGBTQ+, people with disabilities, students from racial or ethnic minorities (as defined locally), and women.

A complete application consists of three items: (i) a short application (via Google forms) collecting contact information, demographic data, a description of your interest in ITSoc events, relevant and motivating experiences (1-3 paragraphs), and a few sentences that speak to the target of the scholarship (1-3 paragraphs), (ii) your curriculum vitae / resume, (iii) a short letter of recommendation (1 page) from a faculty mentor.

Alternatives to Google: If you either cannot or do not want to access Google to complete the application, please download the application form from https://www.comm.utoronto.ca/~sdraper/ITSocDIscholarships/. Assemble your answers to the questions in the application form in a separate PDF document and upload (i) your completed application and (ii) your CV to DropBox at https://www.dropbox.com/request/4LWFxJqkVUnHyahs9hPg. For your files please use the naming format “lastName_firstName_app_2021.pdf” and “lastName_firstName_CV_2021.pdf”. For letter writers who cannot use Google, please also upload using the same DropBox link and the naming format “studentLastName_studentFirstName_recLetter_2021.pdf”.

If this alternative to Google also does not work for you, please email your documents to the chair of the D&I Committee, Prof. Stark Draper at [email protected].

A PDF of the above information is available at: https://www.itsoc.org/sites/default/files/2021-05/ISIT2021_Scholarship_Announcement.pdf