SIGSOFT Awards Guidance and Criteria

This page covers the general principles for writing a strong nomination, the contents of the nomination packages, and eligibility rules.

Writing an effective nomination statement

  • Be focused and concise. The awards provide length guidance.
  • Address the criteria concretely. Where the award page lists high-level dimensions the committee considers, excellent candidates rarely have an equally strong case across every dimension; most stand out on a subset. Focus the statement on the most important contributions and on the dimensions where the case is strongest. A nominee’s CV enumerates all their activities, and so an effective nomination should focus on identifying (and motivating) the most important of them.
  • Deemphasize counting. Publication or citation counts can provide evidence of impact or reach. However, they can vary widely across subareas and don’t truly differentiate strong nominees. Additionally, these types of criteria are easily visible from the nominee CV. It is more useful to make qualitative arguments that focus on the most important ways a nominee has shaped research, practice, education, or community.
  • Ensure your description of the work and its impact is accessible across subfields. Committees include researchers from across the field of Software Engineering, so it is helpful if you write nominating statements so that any competent software engineering researcher (including those who are not specialists in the nominee’s area) can appreciate the nominee’s impact.

Nomination package

Nomination package PDFs are uploaded through the submission portal by the full-package deadline. The Distinguished Volunteer Certificate uses a separate annual cycle and a different form; see its page for that.

Senior awards: Outstanding Research, Distinguished Service, Influential Educator

A senior awards nomination package consists of the following.

  1. The nominee’s name, affiliation, and contact information.
  2. The nominee’s CV.
  3. A proposed citation of up to 25 words.
  4. A nomination statement of 500-1000 words. Consult the award’s description for evaluation criteria to use to focus the nomination.
  5. Names and contact information of up to three individuals who would be willing to support the nomination, each accompanied by a brief note of one or two sentences explaining the person’s relationship to the nominee and what perspective they could offer.

For senior awards, supporters do not write traditional letters of recommendation. The committee may contact them directly via email with a small set of questions. The intention is that these will benefit from concise answers, on the order of a paragraph or two. When inviting someone to serve as a supporter, nominators can reassure them that the time burden is expected to be quite modest if and when the committee reaches out. Whether the committee does so is not indicative of the strength or potential success of the nominee. The committee may also gather additional information from sources beyond the supporters suggested by the nominator.

Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation and Early Career Researcher awards

Nomination packages for these awards include:

  • Full name(s) and affiliation(s) of the nominee(s).
  • Proposed citation, up to 25 words.
  • A succinct description of why the nominee is well-qualified for the award (100-250 words).
  • A detailed nomination statement (no length limit, but please be reasonable).
  • Up to three support letters. 200-300 words is sufficient, although longer statements of support are welcome.
  • Important. Each support letter must include the following sentence: “To the best of my knowledge, the candidate I am endorsing has not committed any action that violates the ACM Code of Ethics and ACM’s Core Values.”

Dissertation nominations additionally include the student’s advisor(s), a one- to two-page summary of the dissertation, and a list of nominee publications used as the basis for chapters in the dissertation. See the dissertation award page for those requirements and the dissertation-date eligibility window.

Frank Anger Memorial Award

This is a student travel award supporting cross-disciplinary engagement between the SIGSOFT and SIGBED communities. The nomination package is:

  1. Full name and affiliation of the nominated student.
  2. Membership number (ACM/SIGSOFT).
  3. A synopsis of an original research proposal the student is pursuing (2-page limit).
  4. A proposal discussing the potential for crossover in ideas between the student’s current field of research and the fields covered by SIGBED (1-page limit).
  5. A curriculum vitae or resume listing the student’s publications.
  6. A letter from the student’s research advisor confirming that the student is in good standing and pursuing the research as described in the proposal. The letter must include the following sentence: “To the best of my knowledge, the candidate I am endorsing has not committed any action that violates the ACM Code of Ethics and ACM’s Core Values.”

To be eligible, the student must be a SIGSOFT member undertaking graduate research in a relevant field at an accredited college or university. See the Frank Anger Memorial Award page for award context and recipient history.

Impact Paper Award

Impact Paper Award nominations recognize a paper rather than a person. The nomination package is:

  1. Paper title.
  2. Paper authors, with contact information and current affiliations.
  3. Name of the SIGSOFT-sponsored conference at which the paper was published.
  4. Year the paper was published.
  5. Proposed citation (up to 25 words).
  6. A succinct statement describing why the paper is impactful (200-500 words is desirable).

Eligible papers were published at a SIGSOFT-sponsored or co-sponsored conference held at least 11 years prior to the award year. See the Impact Paper Award page for context and recipient history.

Eligibility

The rules below apply across SIGSOFT awards. Award-specific eligibility wrinkles, such as the Early Career Researcher’s seven-year window and the dissertation award’s twelve-month window, are described on the per-award pages.

  • Self nominations are permitted, except for the Distinguished Volunteer Certificate.
  • The same individual cannot be nominated for different SIGSOFT awards in the same year. The committee reserves the right to consider an individual for a different award than the one for which they are nominated, when more suitable.
  • In general, SIGSOFT will not select individuals already recognized by an equivalent or substantially similar award from another professional society. Nominations of such individuals are permitted but must include a clear justification that articulates the special circumstances motivating the nomination. The committee reserves the right to accept or deny the justification.
  • Nominators of candidates who are not selected in a given award year may reuse nomination materials unmodified for up to two consecutive additional years.
  • The selection committee for any award may decline to make an award in a given year if no suitable nominations are received.

Per-award descriptions

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