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<div><font color="#000000">Dear MIT Postdoc,</font><br>
</div>
<div><font color="#000000">I am writing to invite you to participate
in a national survey of postdoctoral scholars sponsored by the
Sigma Xi, an international honor society of research scientists and
engineers. At least 50 other universities are
participating and Alice Gast, MIT VP for Research, strongly supports
MIT's participation. We hope that the survey results will help
MIT to benchmark our policies and practices against our peer
institutions. This web-based survey is designed to improve the
training and research environments for postdoctoral scholars by
providing a better understanding of their
experiences. </font></div>
<div><font color="#000000"><br>
Please participate in assessing the postdoc environment at MIT by
clicking on the following link to begin the survey process. As an
added incentive, all survey participants from MIT will have the option
to be entered in a drawing for a $100 Barnes & Noble gift
certificate. <br>
<br>
<u>http://postdoc.sigmaxi.org/survey/mit/participate</u></font><br>
</div>
<div><font color="#000000">When you visit the link above, you will be
asked to provide your email address. You will then be mailed a
personal URL that will let you take the survey (it takes about 20-30
seconds to get the return email with your personal URL). If you
encounter technical difficulties at any time, you may write
postdoc@sigmaxi.org or call 800-243-6534.</font></div>
<div><font color="#000000"><br></font></div>
<div><font color="#000000">The survey will take approximately 20-30
minutes to complete. At any time during the survey, you may stop
and save your responses, so that you can complete the survey or edit
your responses at a later time. To resume or make revisions at a later
date, you will need the link above. All surveys must be
completed by December 27, 2004.</font></div>
<div><font color="#000000"><br></font></div>
<div><font color="#000000">Your responses will be kept completely
confidential and you may refuse to answer questions at any time. For
more information on confidentiality, please check out the privacy
policy on the Sigma Xi website.<br>
<u><br>
</u>Thank you in advance for your help with this national effort to
improve the postdoctoral experience.<br>
<br>
Sincerely,<br>
<br>
Marilyn Smith</font></div>
<div><font color="#000000">Special Projects Director</font></div>
<div><font color="#000000">Office of the Vice President for Research,
MIT</font></div>
<div><font color="#000000"><br>
To read the full survey privacy policy, visit<u>
http://postdoc.sigmaxi.org/privacy/mit</u></font><br>
</div>
<div><font color="#000000">If, at any time, you have questions or
concerns about the Sigma Xi Postdoc Survey or your rights as a
respondent please contact<u> postdoc@sigmaxi.org</u> or call
800-243-6534 and reference the Sigma Xi Postdoc Survey.</font></div>
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