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News — 31 May, 2022

HOT unSummit Scholarship Grant for FOSS4G & SotM 2022

The HOT unSummit is offering travel funding for active HOT and humanitarian open mapping / open data contributors and community members to attend two of the conferences we are supporting, FOSS4G and SOTM. Apply now!

In 2022, the HOT unSummit aims to develop collaborations and partnerships with communities, organizations and networks that are organizing conference events. You can read more about the 2022/2023 HOT summit approach here.

As part of the support developed for this new approach, the HOT unSummit is offering travel funding for active HOT and humanitarian open mapping / open data contributors and community members to attend two of the conferences we are supporting, FOSS4G and SOTM in Firenze, Italy in August 2022. Depending on the availability of budget, we may release another call for online attendance support scholarship in July or August.

Travel Support Grant

Coverage

The Travel Grant may include up to the amount required for a full conference ticket/s, flight ticket, travel insurance and accommodation, as well as reimbursable funds for Visa and other expenses, i.e. local transport, PCR tests (if required), etc. We may offer top-ups for applicants who have existing funding but will need more support.

We don’t yet know exactly how many community members we can fund as it depends on where people are coming from, but we hope the funds we have will be enough to get, at minimum, ten people to the conferences.

Criteria for Evaluation

Due to time constraints and in order to have a fair and transparent process, applications will go through a two-step evaluation/criteria screening:

  • Eligibility Requirement
  • Additional criteria which is based on a point system (awarded points based on the additional criteria)

1. Eligibility Requirement

To be eligible, applicants must meet these two factors:

  • The applicant should be in possession of a valid passport with at least 6 months validity at the time of travel.
  • The applicant actively contributes to and participates* in HOT / humanitarian open mapping / open data community. They/she/he is one or more of the following:
    • is a HOT mapper / trainer / validator (e.g. part of the HOT Validators Team / Validator Trainee)

*includes map edits and non-map edits (e.g. organizing training / mapathon / events, documenting in the wiki, developing apps, mentoring and community building, etc.)

2. Additional Criteria

Applicants who meet the eligibility requirements will go through the next round of evaluation and will be evaluated based on the additional criteria, with points awarded:

  • Minority and underrepresented groups - we aim to increase diverse participation of humanitarian open mapping community:
    • Applicant is from HOT’s priority countries receive 1 point
    • Applicant is a woman/LGBTQ / part of other minority groups receive 1 point
    • Applicant is a student receive 1 point
  • Submitted and accepted talks
    • Applicant has an accepted talk at SOTM or FOSS4G receive 2 points
    • Applicant submitted a talk or plans to speak in a lightning talk or self-organized session receive 1 point
  • First SotM / FOSS4G
    • Applicant attending either SotM or FOSS4G or both for the first time receive 1 point
  • Motivation statement
    • Applicant’s motivation statement (details of contributions and participation as well as how their attendance will benefit their local community / humanitarian open mapping community) may receive 0 to 3 points

In addition, existing funding (for example, from SOTM or FOSS4G travel grants) will still be considered based on the need and availability of budget.

Review Process

Each application will be reviewed by 3 persons based on the eligibility, and additional criteria and score each criteria based on the point system above.

Applications will be sent to reviewers with the name and email fields removed to avoid bias.

Payment

The Scholarship Committee will be responsible for purchasing flight tickets, travel insurance, accommodation and conference tickets. Scholars will be responsible for arranging required visas and other expenses (e.g. local transport, PCR tests, etc). These costs may be reimbursable by cash or electronic means.

Application

Apply now for travel support to attend SOTM or FOSS4G in Firenze, Italy in August 2022!

All data will be held confidential and only used for assessing HOT unSummit scholarship applications. Please ensure that the email address that you provide is working and regularly monitored.

Deadline of Application: June 15, 2022 Notification of results: June 20, 2022

Applications will be evaluated on a rolling basis as received.

Tips for completing your application:

  • Be clear and concise
  • Identify any other confirmed or expected travel support, i.e. you have applied for a travel grant through another organization and expect to hear results by x date
  • Clearly indicate the level of support required (e.g. flight travel support, accommodation support, visa support, PCR test support, etc.). We have limited resources and this will assist us in maximizing these funds
  • We will evaluate applications in English. Applicants are welcome to use their preferred translation software as required to translate their application into English. Alternatively, the Scholarship Committee will also accept applications in other languages, and use DeepL and/or Google Translate to translate your application into English. English fluency is NOT a criteria for evaluation of funding.

Online Attendance Support Grant

Depending on the availability of budget, we may release another call for online attendance support scholarship in July or August to cover internet allowance and conference tickets for scholars wishing to attend virtually.

Questions?

If you have any questions related to your application, please contact scholarship@hotosm.org.