Call for Travel Grant Applicants

We are proud to announce that MobiSys 2023 will support conference attendance by students using travel grants.

Student Travel Grants

The purpose of this program is to encourage graduate student participation at the conference by funding the travel cost for students who would otherwise be unable to attend.

Eligibility: Applicants to this grant must be a student at the time of physically attending MobiSys 2023 to qualify.

Selection criteria: The student statement/letter and advisor letter(s) weigh strongly in selecting students for a travel grant. Generally, travel grants are awarded to PhD students pursuing research in areas of interest to MobiSys. We rarely consider masters students and do not consider postdocs.

Prioritisation order:

1. Students from under-represented groups or institutions. Additionally, grants are spread across institutions, and the historical tendency is to award one travel grant per institution.
2. Students who authored rejected MobiSys papers.
3. Students who have not received a prior MobiSys travel grant.
4. Student authors of accepted papers who will not themselves be speaking at the conference.
5. Student who are co-authors of accepted posters.
6. Students in early stages of their PhD studies without alternate means of support.

The factors above represent our rough prioritisation. We also take into account extenuating circumstances that are discussed in statements and letters. In addition to this, we prioritise equal representation and diversity.

Funding level: The expectation is that a student travel grant will significantly offset air fare, shared hotel accommodation, and registration. It may not fully cover these expenses, however, since our desire is to maximise participation by students.Thus, we strongly encourage students to seek alternative top-up funding.

Note for presenting student authors: we generally expect presenting authors to be sponsored by their institution, and will generally not consider presenting authors for travel grants. If, however, you would struggle to attend MobiSys without a travel grant because your institution cannot sponsor your travel, please indicate so clearly in your application.

How to Apply

Your application must include the following:

• A resume with complete contact information and correct email address.
• A short personal statement (1 or 2 paragraphs, no more than 1 page) that includes information that the applicant feels is relevant to support their case, e.g. why the conference attendance is important to the applicant’s research and career development. It must include the estimated expenses for attending the conference (total, and breakdown by conference registration, travel, lodging, and meals). If you will be unable to attend MobiSys without a travel grant, please explain why this is the case.
• A letter (max. 1 page) from your advisor (or a faculty contact if you do not have an advisor), which should:
1. Confirm the applicant’s good standing in the institution;
2. Explain why the applicant would benefit from attending MobiSys as well as how they could contribute to the conference; and
3. Explain the current funding status and why the applicant is in need of the travel grant.
• Submit your application as a single PDF file at: https://mobisys23-travel-grants.hotcrp.com/.

Additional Information

Please pay attention to the following details about the travel grant application and reimbursement process:

• Tell us if you are a student at a US institution (so we can determine which travel grants budget to use).
• There is no strict upper or lower bound for the travel grants, however, a typical request should be no higher than $1500 USD. Please try to be accurate in your estimates, so we can fairly allocate the budget across all applicants. Junior researchers from under-represented regions may benefit from exceptions.
• Please provide complete contact information. We will need to have your current mailing address and email address. Please take into account any address changes you may have near the time of the stipend deadline, for example due to school breaks. You will be notified via email, so make sure your email address is correct on your application.
• In order to obtain reimbursement, you must provide MobiSys with your original receipts for airfare and hotel expenses.
• We do expect you to prefer affordable accommodation over more expensive options.
• Note to those awarded a travel grant: The reimbursement process can take in the order of several months so please be patient..
• The decision on student travel grants is made by the MobiSys Student Travel Grant Committee; all decisions are final.
• Grant applicants should ensure that they have the proper travel documents (i.e., a visa) to travel to and enter Finland, and to return to their home institution after the conference.

Important Dates

The application submission deadline is April 12th, 2023. The latest date of notification is May 18th, 2023. However, we will endeavour to provide notifications earlier, based on availability of sponsorship funding.

Contacts

If you have any queries, please contact Gareth Tyson and Gang Wang.