Travel Awards for FOCS 2018

Thanks to generous support from the National Science Foundation, there will be a total of $20,000 to support travel for FOCS 2018 for eligible students and postdoctoral fellows.

The NSF travel awards are available to US-based students and postdoctoral fellows (to partially support the travel for attending the conference). This year, we plan to fund around 20 attendees. Receipts will be required for all travel awards. Reimbursement will be made after the conference. Preference will be given to students who are FOCS 2018 authors. To apply, email the information listed below to focs18.travel.award@gmail.com, by August 20, 2018. Please use the following subject line: “FOCS 2018 travel-registration application”.

  • Title of paper, if you are an author, and whether you will be presenting the paper.

  • Whether you are a student or you are a postdoctoral fellow.

  • University name.

  • Amount of other travel funds that are available to you.

  • A short statement describing you academic standing and interests, your expected graduation date and degree, advisor’s name, and, if available, a URL for a working Web page. Also indicate whether and when you have attended previous major theory conferences (e.g., STOC and FOCS) and whether or not you have received other travel awards to do so.

  • (For students) a supporting statement from your advisor confirming your status, recommending your attendance, and describing the availability of travel funds. This should be included in a message with your name in the subject line which should be emailed by the advisor to the focs18.travel.award address above. (Note: vague statements such as “funds are tight” are not informative).

  • The NSF encourages applications from members of underrepresented groups for these awards. 

  • (Optional) Please indicate if you are part of such a group or at an institution that is not typically represented at IEEE FOCS.

This information will be used to prioritize the awards (see the prioritization for travel awards below). The awards will be announced around September 1st. Late applications will not be accepted. You should receive an email acknowledging your application on August 21st.

Priority for Travel Awards will be based on the following:

  • Student authors and co-authors of accepted papers who do not have other support.

  • Members of underrepresented groups or from institutions not traditionally represented at the conference who have research interests in areas covered by FOCS and whose attendance would broaden participation at the conference.

  • Student applicants whose statements and supporting information make particularly cogent justification for the benefit they will receive from attending the conference.

  • Postdoctoral authors of accepted papers who do not have other travel support.

  • First-time applicants and students who have not received travel stipends to FOCS or STOC in the recent past.

  • Financial need and stage in research career.