The SIGPLAN Professional Activities Committee


Student Members

Are you a student who is a presenter or co-author of a paper, but need money to attend the conference? The SIGPLAN Professional Activities Committee (PAC) provides support to help advance professional goals such as these. Even if you are not a SIGPLAN member, you can apply – as long as the event you are participating in is sponsored by SIGPLAN, you are a member of ACM, and your advisor is a member of SIGPLAN.

We expect you to apply for these funds only when you would not be able to attend the meeting otherwise. Applications will be evaluated on a first-come, first-served basis. PAC expects to fund applications for the following activities:

  • A one-year SIGPLAN membership for ACM students that are currently not SIGPLAN members.
  • Travel expenses (including airfare, shared accommodation, taxi/cab/shuttle, meals (only if not provided by the event), registration, mileage, and parking) at a SIGPLAN sponsored conference where the applicant is to present a paper, is co-author of a paper on the program, or is participating in a student poster session. PAC expects institutions to share costs in the funding of students.
  • Any other activity deemed appropriate by the committee.

Please note that the ACM Student Research Competition is not a SIGPLAN sponsored event. Furthermore, sometimes non-SIGPLAN conferences are co-located with a SIGPLAN conference. Only SIGPLAN sponsored events are eligible for PAC funding.

Student authors applying for support to attend a meeting may complete the student application form, which must include a detailed budget.

Please pay strict attention to the application submission requirements listed to speed consideration of your request. A request for travel to a conference must be submitted at least four weeks before the early registration deadline and the early hotel reservation deadline of the conference. Also, please check the website of the specific conference for additional details about other sources of funding and deadlines.

Please try to avoid selecting “other” as the name of the conference. If you are attending an event that is co-located with one that is listed, please use the name of the listed event, even if you are not planning to attend it.

See the FAQ about Travel Expenses and Reimbursements below.

Professional Members

Are you a SIGPLAN member and want to participate in SIGPLAN-related standards work or other important or unique SIGPLAN efforts, but need financial support?

We expect you to apply for these funds only when you would not be able to attend the meeting otherwise. Applications will be evaluated on a first-come, first-served basis. PAC expects to fund applications for the following activities:

  • Annual fees for attending a standards meeting.
  • Any other activity deemed appropriate by the committee.

Submit your application by sending email to the PAC Contact Persons. Your email should include the following information:

  1. A statement that you are a member of SIGPLAN (include your ACM membership number).
  2. A resume.
  3. A budget that includes details on cost sharing.
  4. An endorsement from your employer or institution (e.g., supervisor or department chair) that confirms your budget and states why SIGPLAN PAC should support you.
  5. A brief description of the activity and its relevance to SIGPLAN. This description is not necessary if the activity is sponsored by SIGPLAN.

Please pay strict attention to the application submission requirements listed to speed consideration of your request. A request for travel to a conference must be submitted at least four weeks before the early registration deadline and the early hotel reservation deadline of the conference. Also, please check the website of the specific conference for additional details about other sources of funding and deadlines.

Students and Scholars from Historically Marginalized Groups

Are you a student or scholar from a historically marginalized group? For example, specific to the United States, are you from a Historically Black College or University or Minority Serving Institution? Would you like to attend a SIGPLAN-sponsored conference, but need additional funding to do so? The SIGPLAN Professional Activities Committee (PAC) provides support to help advance professional goals such as these. Even if you are not a SIGPLAN member, you can apply, as long as the event you are participating in is sponsored by SIGPLAN.

If you are a student, please follow the instructions above under Student Members, and indicate that you are from a historically marginalized group in the application form, and indicate which one. Neither you nor your advisor needs to be a member of SIGPLAN. If you are not a student, please follow the instructions above under Professional Members and indicate you are from a historically marginalized group in your email, and indicate which one. You need not be a member of SIGPLAN.

Child-care Travel Support

Would you like to attend a SIGPLAN-sponsored event, but cannot because the cost of child-care is prohibitive? SIGPLAN provides funds for a limited number of grants that support child care for members that would like to participate in a SIGPLAN-sponsored event but are unable to do so without this support. SIGPLAN provides financial assistance to subsidize a variety of child-care options, including:

  • On-site child care at conferences arranged by the parent, including placing kids in a shared care facility or paying for babysitting expenses
  • Travel costs for a companion who provides child care, specifically for non-shared transportation costs such as airfare.
  • Travel costs for children between the ages of two and sixteen.

Because grant funds are limited, we intend to cap the total support provided for this purpose at $1000 for any one request. For more information about this program or to apply for support, please send e-mail to the PAC Contact Persons.

Your email should include:

  1. A statement that you are a member of SIGPLAN (include your ACM membership number), attesting that the costs you are requesting reimbursement for arise from the need to travel to participate in the conference.
  2. A resume.
  3. A budget that includes details on the specifics of the kind of support requested.
  4. A brief description of how you are participating in the conference or workshop. Examples might include presenting a paper, participating in the program or organizing committee, etc. We do not foresee supporting travel for the purpose of attending only.

If multiple parents are attending the same event, please indicate this in your email. Only one parent should request support in this case.

Companion Travel Grant

Would you like to attend a SIGPLAN-sponsored event, but require assistance to travel or have a small child in your care? SIGPLAN can provide funds for a limited number of travel grants to attend a SIGPLAN-sponsored conference for a companion care-provider for a SIGPLAN member who is:

  • a person with a physical disability necessitating a companion, or
  • a parent of an infant less than two years old who cannot travel without the infant and a care-provider for the infant.

The only costs covered are those incurred solely for the transportation of the companion. Shared transportation expenses, such as taxis, and non-transportation costs, such as room and board, are not covered. For more information about this program, please send e-mail to the PAC Contact Persons.

Long Distance International Travel

Are you a member of SIGPLAN who is unable to participate in SIGPLAN events because you are located in parts of the world that make it too expensive to attend them? The SIGPLAN Professional Activities Committee (PAC) can provide funding for long-distance travel to SIGPLAN sponsored activities from locations outside of North America and Europe.

To apply for such support you need to provide the following information:

  • Your reason for attending the SIGPLAN sponsored meeting. Examples include attending a program committee meeting, presenting a paper, or attending an organizational meeting (e.g., a conference steering committee meeting).
  • A statement that you reside in a geographic area covered by the grant (specifically: Asia, Africa, Australia, or South America).
  • A resume.
  • A budget that details your expenses.
  • A statement that you are a member of SIGPLAN, including your membership number.

Please apply for this grant by visiting the PAC application web site: here.

PAC Contact Person

Sukyoung Ryu

FAQ: Travel Expenses and Reimbursements

Q: Can I reimbursed for a rental car?
A: ACM does not reimburse for rental cars unless prior approval has been obtained. The general guidelines are that students are going to a conference, not on vacation; shuttle bus/cab is less expensive transport getting between airport and conference nearly always.

Q: Can I drive to the conference?
A: If driving is cheaper than flying, sure. For longer distances, flying is nearly always cheaper than driving (unless it is a very short driving distance). ACM reimburses at the IRS business rate, currently 48.5 cents per mile. The rate changes every January 1.

Q: Do I need receipts for every expense?
A: ACM policy requires a receipt for any expense over US$25. Expenses under $25 are reimbursable without receipt, by submitting a description–most frequently things like, “9/10/07, breakfast at airport Starbucks, $8.45” and “9/10/07, shuttle bus to hotel, $16”.

Q: What is the limit on reimbursement for meals?
A: There is a maximum for reimbursable meals of $50 per day in the U.S., and $60 outside; these maximums are enforced by our Finance Department. Note: We do not reimburse for meals when that meal is served as part of the conference activities.

Q: Some of my expenses are being reimbursed by my University and they require original receipts. How should I handle this?
A: There are several ways to work this out, including having the University reimburse the student and a department administrator send a bill to ACM asking to have the department reimbursed in the amount of the SIGPLAN grant. Sometimes there are other reasons that make sense for the University to reimburse the student then bill ACM.

Q: Can I be reimbursed in other currencies?
A: Reimbursement can be made in US$ (most frequent); other currencies (CA$, Euros, GBP most frequent); or by bank transfer (although for some countries there are stiff fees for bank transfers). All take roughly the same amount of time to process and get moving, which is about two weeks. Sometimes bank transfers are really quick, but not always.

Q: Is it possible to get reimbursements via wire transfer?
A: Yes, wire transfers are available for payments outside of North America. The following information is needed to execute a wire transfer.

Name on bank account
Address on bank account
Phone (PAC recipient)
IBAN or Account number

Name and address of bank SWIFT or BIC code (a bank routing code, which is available from bank)__ Additional information requested by bank (such as intermediary bank info)

Q: Can I get a travel advance?
A: Unfortunately, we do not do travel advances.