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 16, 2025 Submission deadline for Big Ideas workshop (encouraged, but not mandatory) 
• March 28, 2025 Big Ideas workshop (encouraged, but not mandatory) 
• April 7, 2025 Submissions due by email to Ryan McMahan before 5:00 PM 
• April 21, 2025 Announcement of award

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

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.

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 Ryan McMahan.

Note: All funds for Spring semester have been allocated. If your user study occurs during the summer, please consider submitting an application during the summer period: May 15-August 15.

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 Ryan McMahan. 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.