Report of the International Committee
for the Year Ending June 30, 2010

Introduction
The Sigma Xi International Committee, whose membership is shown in Appendix 1, proposed and acted upon some new significant initiatives during this year and is also in the process of gathering support from its members, in order to implement some initiatives that it reviewed and approved during last year.

In its interaction with the Board, the International Committee continued to hold its recommendation made in 2006-07, to establish regional constituencies of their own when the International chapters/partners in a certain region reach a successful "critical mass". The Committee believes that this change is an important factor in the development of increased international membership and expansion and that it would also promote changes in periodic meeting locations that would also help in the Internationalization of the Society.

Highlights of the Committee's work
During the teleconference meeting that the Committee held on March 11, 2009, both Dr. Howard Ceri and Dr. Joseph Whittaker, at that time president elect and president elect designee, asked the Committee to provide names of possible people to speak on Energy, which was the Society's main theme at its Annual Meeting that was held in Houston, Texas on November 12-15, 2009. It was mentioned that the speakers needed to address the interface between policy and science and that some examples coming from other parts of the world would be of interest. It was also mentioned that there is a lot that could be brought in from Europe on Energy Conservation, Discovery and Policy and that there was plenty for the Committee to handle a supporting workshop on Energy.

After the teleconference the Committee decided to participate in this Energy Initiative's theme in two ways: by suggesting a European speaker for the main panel debate on Energy and by organizing a workshop on European research on this topic.

For the panel debate it was suggested and later approved that Dr. Hans Björn Püttgen, Professor and Chair of Management of Energy Systems and Director of the Energy Center at the Federal Polytechnic Institute of Lausanne, Switzerland be invited as a speaker, so he participated in the debate with a presentation of the Energy Challenges of the 21st Century.

For the workshop, Dr. Michael Crosby chaired a well attended session in which Dr. Pita presented the seven year research program (2008-15) on Energy that has been established by the European Commission. In this presentation the entire 65 billion euro research program for the 10 basic topics that have been selected by the European Commission were presented, as well as the Technology Platforms that give way to the Research Road Maps that are used for Calls on each topic. Finally, a detailed review was made on the recent Energy and Environmental calls and an interesting question and answer period followed. The Committee feels that this workshop gave the assisting members a perspective on the research that is being carried out on Energy at an international level and allows the Society to expand its horizons in order to become "The" Scientific Research Honor Society.

After the Boards approval of the charter of the Nordic chapter, which includes universities, research institutes and educational institutions of high caliber from Denmark, Norway, Finland, Sweden and Iceland, Dr. Pita, in representation of the Board, initiated the Nordic Chapter in a ceremony held at the University of Oslo on July 3, 2009. The rector of the university, Dr. Geir Ellinsgrud wrote the letter of support that made this university be the host institution for this chapter.

The charter for the Nordic chapter was received by Dr. Paul Kettler, its dully elected president. The Installation Agenda covered a presentation on Sigma Xi, given by Dr. Pita, as well as an inaugural address given by Dr. Kettler on the Challenges Facing Scientists Today.

At the same time, during the 2009-2010 year, the Committee took the initiative of presenting to the April 2010 Board´s Meeting the excellent proposal made to the Committee in December 2009 by Dr. Paul Kettler, president of the Nordic Chapter, of partnering with researchGate.net at no cost to the Society, in order to launch the Society´s first scientific networking platform.

The Committee pointed out in its presentation that the members of the researchGATE.net platform are all there for advancing scientific research and that it saw this as an opportunity to "add value" to Sigma Xi members by allowing them to use on an "exclusive" basis this Special New Research Networking Media. It also emphasized that researchGATE.net is the foremost provider of such services and that in close to two years of operation it has built a social network of more than 400,000 researchers from 196 countries. Over 1,000 subgroups have been formed for specific disciplines, and 60,000 research documents have been uploaded for sharing with others on the site.

Another point that was emphasized by the Committee was that within this platform, Sigma Xi could be set up as a 'sub-community' and together with its logo, the organizational chart would reflect only Sigma Xi. This would mean that the Sigma Xi's sub-community would be restricted to the Society's members and this would also allow targeted communications among chapters, regions, and formal constituency groups. Furthermore, since researchGATE allows users to adjust Privacy Settings on their accounts, this would imply that the members would have access to all of the researchers on the parent site, and if they so choose, they could be "seen" and be in contact with them.

Finally, it was explained to the Board that this private network platform allows members to access researchers that work on interdisciplinary or similar topics within the Sigma Xi sub-community or on a worldwide basis, so it can help move a stalled research project forward in ways that haven't been available before. Thus, it supports communication and enhances productivity amongst researchers by allowing them to ask a question, present an issue or find information quickly and efficiently. Users can post a specific query about just one aspect of their project without disclosing what the underlying research is about, because "everyone can decide how much information to put into a discussion and how much to help other people". Furthermore, researchGATE.net also prohibits members from disclosing information shared on the site with third parties and it accepts no advertising.

This proposal was unanimously approved by the Board and the Committee was instructed to implement this research network as soon as possible, by offering participation to each member current with their dues. In order to expedite this, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed with researchGATE so that an account could be created for each member with the data of their Sigma Xi membership. Nevertheless the caveat that was added was that if for any reason any member did not wish to participate, they could remove their account before it became active, with no prejudice against joining at a future time.

In this regard the International Committee, together with Dr. Paul Kettler, president of the Nordic Chapter and initiator of this proposal, would like to state that at the close of the fiscal year 2009-10, everything was in place for the launch of the researchGATE platform.

Regarding the Sigma Xi European partners, Sigma Xi Georgia is still the most active one and is the one that tries to stay in constant contact with the Society. A congratulatory letter was sent to the Georgia Partner for their participation in helping organize and host the 1st International Congress on Vision and Cognition and for having Professor A. Kezeli., act as Co-Chair of the Symposium.

Committee Meetings
Although there were various initiatives proposed and discussed with various members, the Committee did not hold a face-to-face or teleconference meeting during the year 2009-10. The composition of the Committee remains the same, except for the addition of Dr. Paul Kettler, from the Nordic Chapter.

Pending Issues

1. Outreach to International Members through an E-Blast
2. Request made by Dr. Karen Oates (NSF) for Workshop on Ethics with Georgia Partner

Since the e-blast basic format did not receive any comments or suggestion for changes from the members of the Committee, the possibility of handling this survey will be explored this Autumn and the results will be discussed in a teleconference that will be called shortly afterwards.

Regarding the request made by Dr. Karen Oates that involves the Georgia Partner and has to do with an Ethics Workshop, the Committee had decided to submit, with the help of Headquarters, a proposal to NSF for $25000 in order to cover the cost of two scientists to go to Georgia and conduct this Ethics program.

Although the Committee gave this request its unanimous approval and felt that this is not only the kind of thing that Sigma Xi should be pursuing, but that it should be extended to include many countries, unfortunately the Chair of the International Committee and the Executive Director were not able to join forces and jointly submit a one page proposal to NSF in order to go forward with this proposal. The Chair of the Committee will now seek other committee members to help download and fill the NSF proposal and request the aid of the Executive Director for its submission. If it passes, it will also seek the help of the Executive Director to locate the two scientists that would handle the workshop during the summer of 2011.

Appendix 1

International Committee Members
Committee Chair
Dr. Antonio Pita (Dir. Canadian/International Constituency Group)

Members of the Committee
Dr. Vera Alexander (Fisheries & Ocean Sciences; Univ of Alaska)
Dr. Satyajit (Sat) Bhattacharya (Pres & CEO Harlem Children Soc)
Dr. Michael P. Crosby (The National Science Board)
Dr. George J. Hammons (Philander Smith College)
Dr. Gretchen Kalonji (Dir Int. Strat. Dev; U of Ca Office of President)
Dr. Zara Khatib(Shell Oil Co.)
Dr. K.Venkatesh Prasad (Ford)
Dr. Robert A. Schwartz (Dermatology Dept MSBH)
Dr. Paul Kettler (Dept. of Mathematics, Univ. of Oslo)

Appendix 2

This is our first International Member News eBlast. You may already be a recipient of a Member eBlast–Emeritus, Life Member, Student or Member–but this one is targeted specifically for International Members

However, we need your input to make it relevant and perhaps even newsworthy. Thus if you have any suggestions to improve on those below, please e-mail those back to us.

So here's what we're looking for:

What's important to you?
Just what should Sigma Xi be doing to help integrate and strengthen the involvement of our international members?, whether it be offline or online. What do you feel you need from us? What are we doing right, what could we be doing better, and just what are we not doing? Is belonging to an "Honor" Society like Sigma Xi worthwhile for you?

What are your views?
Should Sigma Xi promote the inter-communication of its international members by setting a site with a list of the international members list of interests and e-mails? Should it promote the creation of regional activities, like lectureships, meetings or Grants in Aid partnerships? Should it encourage its international members to create Chapters or Partners in their regions? Should it promote the creation of a website?

What's your news?
What's happening in research science and engineering in Canada, Europe, Africa, Latin America, the Middle East, Asia or Oceania? What could we all learn from the rest of the world?

How do you apply for and handle research grants in your region?
Any new interesting issues or ways to further Science and Society relations in your region?, the promotion of young researcher's? , Ethical issues on research? Are you traveling internationally and able to give a lecture at another international Sigma Xi chapter?

Need advice?
If I am an International Member at Large, should I remain as such? What's the difference and benefits would I and other fellow international members get if we set up and International Chapter/ Partner? How can I set up an International Chapter/Partner in my institution or region?

Got "food for thought"?
Got thoughts on what you think your international fellow members should be thinking about or acting upon? Should Sigma Xi strive to become "the" International Honor Society?

Like to know a little bit more about Sigma Xi?
We have a 15 minute DVD you can watch online at: http://www.sigmaxi.org/about/documentary/index.shtml.

We want to hear from you!

Antonio Pita
Chair, International Committee
Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society