Funding

The Center for Human-Computer Interaction (CHCI) invites proposals for internal planning grants leading to significant externally funded research efforts on any topic related to HCI. The goal of this program is to identify and support interdisciplinary teams of researchers in convergent research areas to prepare for submission of large external grant proposals. In this context, “large” grants are defined as externally funded projects with significant budgets in the context of the topical area of the project and the funding source. A CHCI planning grant will support new or existing teams to perform activities, such as team building and project scoping, that are necessary to enable the submission of a competitive large proposal in the future. This internal planning grant should lead directly to an external proposal submission as a next step, but the external submission may be a stepping stone to the envisioned large grant (i.e., an external planning grant or small grant).

Important Dates

• February 2, 2024 Call for proposals available

• April 1, 2023 Submissions due by email to Doug Bowman before 5:00 PM

• April 19, 2023 Announcement of award

Please see the funding call for proposals & cover sheet for more information. 

Note: All funds for Fall semester 2024 have been awarded.

The goals of the CHCI conference funding program are to build the reputation of the center at important HCI conferences related to CHCI focus areas and to help faculty and students attend conferences that will enhance their careers. For students, this funding can be used to supplement funds from other sources such as the GSA or the CS grad council.

The conference funding program provides support for both traditional and virtual conference participation.  Support can be applied to registration and/or travel-related costs for traditional conferences, or for registration, paper publication or related costs for virtual conference participation.

CHCI affiliated faculty and students are eligible to apply. Individuals may receive no more than one funding award from this program per academic year.

Awards will be made for participation in relevant HCI conferences in three categories (an individual can only receive one CHCI conference award, regardless of category, per academic year):

• $400: when the applicant is the presenting author of an accepted, peer-reviewed paper at the conference. It is expected that these will be full papers or short papers that will appear in the proceedings.

• $300: when the applicant is the presenting author of an accepted, peer-reviewed workshop paper, poster, or other small contribution.

• $200: when a student applicant is not presenting any work, but wishes to attend the conference to expand their knowledge of HCI or enhance their future career. Awards in this category will only be given once per student for all their years at VT.

The applicant must demonstrate need (i.e., the work described in the paper is not already supported by a research grant) and efforts to obtain funding through other sources.

The current budget for this program is $8000 per academic year. The total budget will be allocated as follows:

• $3200 (40%) for the fall semester
• $3200 (40%) for the spring semester
• $1600 (20%) for the summer

Funding will be awarded to eligible applications each semester on a first-come, first-served basis. Once the budget allocation for the semester is exhausted, no more awards will be made, although for conferences that will not take place until the following semester, individuals are eligible to apply again at the beginning of the new semester. In special circumstances, the CHCI executive committee may vote to allocate funding for significant travel needs over and above the budget allocation, and over and above the recommended amounts.

Awardees must seek reimbursement for a travel award within 6 months of the award date, or the award will expire.

Students supported by CHCI for travel expenses will be asked to give a brief (15-20 min) talk about their research before or after the conference.

To apply: submit the conference funding application form and a travel approval form in advance of your travel to Doug Bowman. In the cover email, state the following: name of conference, name of advisor, and type of participation (full or short research paper, poster or workshop paper, just attending), and the amount requested if requesting more than the standard award

CHCI offers up to $5000 of matching funds to investigators with an active ICAT major SEAD grant.  The purpose of this program is to enhance and extend the work of HCI-related SEAD grants, especially for investigators from disciplines where external funding is not readily available.

Eligibility: An ICAT major SEAD grant is eligible for CHCI matching funds if:

• The ICAT proposal has a CHCI member as the principal investigator. 

  • Ideally, additional CHCI member(s) will also be involved as co-PI(s), but this is not required.

  • Preference will be given to investigators from disciplines where it is difficult to obtain external funding (e.g., arts, design, humanities), but this is not required.

• The proposed work has a clear relationship to HCI (i.e., the work should involve interactive technologies).

• The major SEAD grant has been awarded by ICAT.

• The PI has not received CHCI matching funds in the last 12 months.

How to Submit: Proposals for CHCI matching funds must be submitted within 30 days of the announcement of the ICAT major SEAD grant awards. Eligible CHCI members can apply for matching funds by sending email to Doug Bowman including: a) the original ICAT proposal and b) a detailed budget justification for the additional funds, demonstrating need and impact of the funding. 

Funding Amount and Review Criteria: CHCI will match up to $5000 on a $25,000 major SEAD grant. There will not be an additional merit review beyond the ICAT review process. Proposals will be evaluated based on demonstrated need and impact of the additional funding.

Award Requirements: Awardees will be required to acknowledge CHCI support in any dissemination of the work (e.g., publication, presentation, exhibit, performance), and will be asked to speak about the work at an appropriate CHCI meeting or seminar.

An important aspect of CHCI’s mission is to support interdisciplinary grants and proposals related to HCI. CHCI has a dedicated grants specialist whose role is to help faculty with all pre-award activities, including:

• Identification of funding opportunities
• Meeting coordination
• Proposal development
• Budget development
• Approvals and submission

CHCI affiliated faculty can contact Holly Williams for help with any of these items on proposals that will be fully or partially submitted through CHCI. For more information on proposal submission options available to CHCI faculty, contact Doug Bowman.

The user study funding program provides up to $400 (maximum per study) in funds to compensate participants in user studies or experiments related to HCI.

CHCI affiliated faculty and students are eligible to apply. Individuals may receive no more than one funding award from this program per academic year.

The current budget for this program is $6500 per academic year. The total budget will be allocated as follows:

• $2600 (40%) for the fall semester
• $2600 (40%) for the spring semester
• $1300 (20%) for the summer

Funding will be awarded to eligible applications each semester on a first-come, first-served basis. Once the budget allocation for the semester is exhausted, no more awards will be made, although studies that continue into the following semester are eligible to apply again at the beginning of the new semester. In special circumstances, the CHCI executive committee may vote to allocate funding to significant projects over and above the budget allocation, and over and above the regular maximum amount.

Awardees must seek reimbursement for a user study award within 12 months of the award date, or the award will expire.

To apply: please complete the user study funding request form and submit it along with your letter of approval from the IRB to Doug Bowman. You will need to be logged into google services with your .vt account to access the form. Applicants should obtain funding approval before beginning their user study, as they may need to submit a control plan, if funded.