Funding and Grants

This page provides some general information and advice on raising funds for your trip to ESSLLI 2005 and information about the ESSLLI 2005 grants.

• General Information
• ESSLLI 2005 Grants

General information

We give below some pointers on how to raise funding for your trip to ESSLLI. These pointers are by no means complete, and the success of applying the recommendations below varies per country.

What do you have to do. Here are some basic steps that might be helpful when rising funds.

Motivate your trip. Before you start sending out applications, ask yourself why you want to go to ESSLLI. The stronger the argument for doing so, the greater the chance that you are successful in raising funds. If you contact somebody they will ask you for your reasons, so be prepared.

Be selective in the funding organizations you approach. Choose those organizations where you have a good chance.

Start early. Formal applications will have to be made well in advance. Also, most organizations have restricted budgets, and you are not the only one who applies!

First step: contact. When planning to contact any organization (except your own department perhaps) you should call in advance and:

• Explain what your intention is: visiting an international summer school as student/lecturer. State that this visit is important to you, and that you are looking for organizations that will fund your trip and expenses.
• Ask whether the organization has possibilities for this if you do not know yet, or ask them how to apply. Normally they will tell you that they can send you documentation.
• Note that on the phone you have the possibility to ask questions about the funding program. What is the chance of getting any funding? Are there any special groups the program addresses (minorities) or special topics (scientific disciplines)?

Second step: application. You will probably have to write a formal application. You will most likely have to provide a budget with a justification of the amount requested. Furthermore, you may need letters of reference. If you have been accepted to present your work in a Workshop at ESSLLI, you can ask the workshop organizers to send you an official invitation which you can use to support your application. If you need our help please don't hesitate to contact us.

Matched funding. Take into account that you will probably have to raise funds from various sources. Usually, one source will supply money iff some other source does the same. For example, your faculty will pay 50 percent if the research council does the same. To bootstrap this so-called matched funding, you could ask your department or faculty to come up with the first (small) guarantee and/or you could promise to come up with some funds yourself. You can use that to persuade others to supply funds.

Where can you turn to? Funding can come from different sources. This section lists categories of funding sources. Besides this list, check with people you know in your country that have already attended ESSLLI: they are a valuable source of information. The International Office or the Students Affairs Office at your university may have information about the national funding possibilities in your country. Possible sources of funding are:

Your department or research institute. Your own department or research institute may have a budget to fund your visit. To find out about this, ask your supervisor, contact the staff of your department/research institute, or ask the person who is in charge of international relations. Check whether your department or faculty is involved in an exchange program (e.g. TEMPUS, SOCRATES, ERASMUS). These programs may have possibilities for visits to Summer Schools. Also, your department might be involved in projects or networks that have funds that allow you to travel to the Summer School.

Faculty. Your faculty may have funds as well. Many faculties have an employee who is responsible for international affairs.

International relations office. Check with the International Office at your university whether the university has funds for your trip. Also check with them whether your university has special agreements with (some university in) the relevant region.

Research Council or Academy of Science. Most national research councils and/or national academies of science have programs for international travel.

Private foundations. In most countries, private foundations exist that might be willing to fund your trip. Sometimes these funds have specific conditions (e.g., you must be an unmarried (fe)male pursuing a degree in Philosophy, etc.).

Private companies. Some companies have student awards, travel money, etc. You can ask them to sponsor your trip as well.

Ministries and Embassies. Your ministry of foreign affairs, of education and/or research may have programs to fund visits. Also the embassy of the country you are going to may have programs to fund visits.

Your own money. Finally, if in the end you have to pay (part) of the school yourself, remember that the money you pay may be tax-deductible in your country.

ESSLLI 2005 Sponsored grants

The organizers of ESSLLI 2005 at Edinburgh intend to make available a very limited number of grants for a small number of full time students who come from countries with economical hardships. The deadline for applying for these grants is 1st May 2005.

Eligibility criteria. The limited number of grants we intend to make available is meant to cover registration fees of the successfull candidates as long as they are full time students and come from countries with economical hardships.

What do the grants cover? These grants cover only the registration fees.

Please note that no travel and accomodation grants are available from the ESSLLI local organization.

How to apply?

To apply for grants, send a grant request by e-mail or fax (be sure to mention ESSLLI 2005 on the front page) to: esslli@macs.hw.ac.uk, Fax: +44 131 451 8179.

Your grant request should contain the following information:

• Name and e-mail address.
• Position: student (graduate, phd), scholar, ...
• Affiliation: University, Company or Research Institute.
• Country of origin.
• Sources and amount of your funding (please state personal annual income).
• What are your current research interests?
• Motivation: why do you want to visit ESSLLI?
• Have you submitted a paper to the student session or one of the ESSLLI-workshops? If so, was it accepted, rejected, or are you still waiting for the notification?
• Include or fax a letter of recommendation from your supervisor (for instance) or ask him to send a recommendation by email to Fairouz Kamareddine.

If your grant application fails to satisfy the above eligibility conditions or does not contain all the above requested information, it will be automatically disqualified and we will not contact you further.

Time Schedule. The deadline for application is May 1st. We will notify applicants by June 1st whether or not the request will be granted. Unsuccessful grant applicants will still be eligible for the early registration fee. If you are applying for a grant please do not register for ESSLLI till you get the decision on your application.