Travel Grant

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FOSS4GE 2024 Travel Grant Programme (TGP)

The F in FOSS4G stands for Free and freedom is not only important for software or data, but it is also important for the community in which everybody can freely participate. For years OSGeo has provided a Travel Grant Programme (TGP) for its conferences to increase the accessibility and diversity of FOSS4G events. The Tartu local organising committee is happy to provide travel grants in cooperation with OSGeo also for FOSS4G Europe 2024.

Travel Grants

Every grant includes a free conference pass, one free workshop, and a grant fund of up to 400€ that can be used for travelling and/or accommodation expenses. The number and size of grants may be adjusted by the FOSS4GE 2024 Travel Grant Committee based on the amount of funds raised for TGP.

Applying for travel grants is open to everyone with only a few rules:

  • Being a regional conference, travel grants for FOSS4G Europe 2024 are only available to residents of European countries . This is a regional conference and a chance to attract more Europeans to the free and open source community.
  • Although Estonia is located in Europe, permanent residents of Estonia are not eligible to receive travel grants.
  • Everyone receiving a travel grant is expected to do volunteer work for at least 12 hours during the conference. This is a way to strengthen the OSGeo community and will help to create a better conference experience for everyone.

The purpose of the travel grant programme is to enhance diversity at the conference. We might reserve a few programme spots for people with unique and outstanding applications. However, the majority of programme spots will solely be determined by the point ranking. In case of equal points, the distance between the applicant’s hometown and Tartu is measured and the applicant coming from farther away wins.

Please consider applying for a smaller grant (up to 300€). It would score you more ranking points and also leave the committee with more funds for additional grants.

Scoring principles

  • 2 points if you apply for a smaller grant (up to 300€)
  • 2 points if you have accepted talk(s) or workshop(s)
  • 2 points for previous proven involvement in OSGeo projects or community building activities
  • 1 point if you proposed talk(s) and/or workshop(s) but they were not accepted
  • 1 point of being enrolled as a student (including PhD student)
  • 1 point for permanent residence in any European country NOT defined as a high-income economy. World Bank 2022 data puts the following 15 countries into this group: Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Russia, Serbia, Türkiye.

Important dates

  • February 2024 - FOSS4G Europe 2024 TGP opens, start sending your applications
  • 31 March - Deadline for applying
  • 17 April - Grant applications are evaluated by the committee, and receivers of grants are contacted by email
  • 1 July 2024 - Start of the conference

Payment

We expect grantees to be able to fund the direct costs of travelling to the FOSS4G Europe conference. Successful applicants will receive conference passes and will become eligible for reimbursement of expenses up to the limit of the travel grant. Paying out the monetary part of TGP will be carried out during/after the conference by direct transfer to the recipient’s bank account only based on the actual expenses up to the total grant limit, meaning that you need to submit your train/bus/flight tickets/invoices and accommodation invoices that you want to have covered. Details will be managed at check-in time at the conference registration desk.

For exceptional cases when the monetary grant will be needed in advance or specific costs need to be covered directly, please contact the organisers of the conference.

Please note! Receivers of travel grants need to arrange necessary visas and other documents needed to enter Estonia to attend the conference themselves. You can get more information on visas from the Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs .

Supporting the TGP

The funding of travel grants comes from:

You can help make the FOSS4G conferences more accessible and increase the diversity of attendees by becoming a sponsor of the conference or by donating money directly to OSGeo .

An easy way to support is to Adopt-a-ticket during your own registration to the event. The proceeds from adopt-a-ticket will be used to cover costs for workshop presenters and TGP applicants’ gratis entrance. With at least one ticket adoption you will be included as an honourable mention in our conference channels. If you buy more, you are instead eligible for one of the different sponsorship levels at equal value which you can find in the FOSS4GE 2024 Call for Sponsors.

About the TGP

The FOSS4G Travel Grant Program initiative was established in 2017 by the OSGeo Board to facilitate accessibility and diversity at the global and regional FOSS4G events.

The travel grant program is managed by the OSGeo Conference Committee, in collaboration with representatives from each FOSS4G event.

Department of Geography,
University of Tartu

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