Two information sessions were hosted by Event Fund program manager, Angela Okune in December 2021 and January 2022 to offer an overview of the Event Fund award, eligibility criteria, application, dates and deadlines, and expectations of award recipients. Angela briefly walked through the application portal (hosted by CS&S fiscally sponsored project, OpenReview!) and grantees who have been supported by the Event Fund also shared brief insights from their experience.

Shared below are the slides that were used (updated in Jan 2022), application resources and the Q&A generated from the live sessions (which have also been added to the online FAQ page). Feel free to email [email protected] with any further questions and we look forward to reviewing your proposals!

Remember, applications must be submitted via this OpenReview link by January 18, 2022, 11:59 PM (Pacific). Find the full request for proposal details here.

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Slide Deck

2022 Event Fund "Ask Me Anything" information session slides here

Application Resources

• Event Fund website here
• Guidance for a strong application here
• FAQ page here
• OpenReview application portal here
• For applicants who wish to prepare for the questions in advance of submission, you can also find the questions here but note, you MUST submit through the official application portal (link above). The budget template document to use is linked from the application portal and also available here (you will download this version, complete and then upload completed version to the portal).
• You can read more about the first Event Fund cohort here, and the second cohort here. In 2022, we are working to improve our reporting about events that have been supported; for now you can read more about some of the projects including the Carpentries Connect in SA 2021; DataFest Kampala 2021; Data Umbrella; and Environmental Enforcement Watch.

Questions

Dec 2021 AMA

• As a sole proprietorship LLC, would we need a fiscal/event sponsor?
  Receiving money as an LLC might affect your tax burden so you might want to confirm tax implications. We frequently encourage people towards organizations like OpenCollective (https://opencollective.com/) that can be the entity receiving the funds.
• Are you open to supporting events for K-12 teachers?
  Yes
• Do you fund a regular scientific conference?
  Yes

Jan 2022 AMA

• Can a university be an event sponsor?
  Yes
• Academic institutions in the US often have indirect cost rates much higher than 15%, and are not typically flexible (except when dealing with larger grants). What solutions have you found for this in the past, for event sponsors?
  Yes, our grant agreements have a cap on indirects at 15% in part to preserve budget when grantees want to work with universities. In such a case as you describe, we frequently encourage people to set up with a fiscal host like OpenCollective (https://opencollective.com/) that can be the entity receiving the funds.
• Can the money support events in any country in world?
  Yes. Any country is eligible and if your project is not fiscally sponsored by a local institution, we can work with you to identify a fiscal sponsor for the funding.
• Can past grantees apply again?
  Yes, and previously unsuccessful applicants can also apply again!
• What is included under the umbrella of “data”?
  We recognize that there are many understandings of open data science and encourage you to make explicit what open data science means to your community. We define open data science to include practices that promote re-use, transparency, and accessibility in collaboration, software/tools, resources, and infrastructure.
• If a university is an event sponsor, do you need us to set this process up before applying or can this be done if we do get funded?
  It is up to you, but we encourage you to have the relationship with your event sponsor in advance as it will likely make it faster to receive the event money. We cannot disburse the funding until we have the fiscal sponsor established.
• Can we allocate a budget for paying high performance computing costs?
  If justified as needed to run the event, yes. Any expense required for an event and justified as needed for the event is considered.
• Can you advertise/promote an event, even if it is not funded by you, but aligns with your mission?
  Yes! Please share the details of the event with us and we can promote it!
• Based on the previous years, what is the success rate for applications?
  We have had approximately 35 applications in each of the previous two rounds and 13 were awarded in the first round and 11 in the second. You can read more about the first cohort here, and the second cohort here. In 2022, we are working to improve our reporting about events that have been supported; for now you can read more about some of the projects including the Carpentries Connect in SA 2021; DataFest Kampala 2021; Data Umbrella; and Environmental Enforcement Watch.
• For the Wellcome Fund: does the event need to fall into all three categories of climate impact on health, mental health, and infectious diseases? Or if your event falls into one of the categories, is that still eligible?
  One is fine.
• Are there any geographic limitations?
  No.
• Do you go back to the applicants during review and ask for clarifying info?
  We would only do so if there was a clear need and reason to do so.

Featured Photo by Radek Grzybowski on Unsplash