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Conference Presentation Program

Goals

The goals of the CHCI conference funding program are to build the reputation of the center at important HCI conferences 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.

Types of conference participation supported

The conference funding program provides support for both traditional in-person and virtual conference participation (in-person participation is prioritized for funding, however).  Support can be applied to registration and/or travel-related costs for traditional in-person conferences; or for registration, paper publication or related costs for virtual conference participation.

Eligibility

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

Applicants 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.

Priority Conferences

Top-tier conferences are prioritized in an effort to build CHCI visibility and reputation at those conferences, and to incentivize CHCI members to target these top-tier venues. The current list of top-tier conferences is: ACM CHI, ACM UIST, ACM CSCW, and IEEE VR.

Funding categories

Awards will be made for participation in relevant HCI conferences in four categories:

  • $1000: when the applicant is the presenting author of an accepted, peer reviewed full paper at ACM CHI.

  • $500: when the applicant is the presenting author of an accepted, peer-reviewed full paper at one of the other top-tier HCI conferences. 

  • $250: when the applicant is the presenting author of an accepted, peer-reviewed workshop paper, poster, or other small contribution at a top-tier HCI conference.

  • $250: when the applicant is the presenting author of an accepted, peer-reviewed full paper at another HCI-related conference outside the top tier.

Budget, application periods, and deadlines

The current budget for this program is $10,000 per academic year. The total budget will be allocated to two application periods corresponding to the top-tier conference paper notification schedules. Applicants may submit anytime during the period, for any upcoming conference. Awards will be made at the end of each period, with priority given to the top-tier conferences associated with that period. In addition, efforts will be made to support students from as many research groups as possible, so in cases where multiple students from the same group apply for the same conference, the advisor may be asked to prioritize the requests. 

Application period 1 has a budget of $6000. Up to $4000 will be awarded for participation at ACM CHI, and up to $2000 will be awarded for participation at IEEE VR. Awards may be made for other conferences if funds are available. The priority deadline for applications to be received for application period 1 is January 27, 2025.

Application period 2 has a budget of $4000. Up to $2000 will be awarded for participation at ACM CSCW and up to $2000 will be awarded for participation at ACM UIST. Awards may be made for other conferences if funds are available. The priority deadline for applications to be received for application period 2 is August 11, 2025.

If funds remain at the end of an application period, they will be rolled over to the next application period. 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.

How to apply

Submit the conference funding application form, a copy of the paper reviews, and a travel approval form in advance of your travel to Ryan McMahan. 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).

Selection criteria

Applications will be selected for award based on conference tier and paper type. Full papers at top-tier conferences will be selected first, followed by other contributions at top-tier conferences, and full papers at other conferences. If the number of top-tier full papers exceeds the budget for the period, applications will be selected based on secondary criteria including normalized review scores and whether the applicant is a first-time attendee at the conference.

After the conference

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

Students and faculty supported by CHCI for travel expenses will be asked to give a brief (15-20 min) talk at the CHCI weekly seminar before or after the conference.