Call for proposals: Workshops, Special Theme Programs, etc.

AMSI invites proposals for "Workshops" and "Special Theme Programs." Workshops usually run for between two days and a week, and address a specific field, or even a particular research problem. Special Theme Programs support relatively long periods of research interaction involving both workshop-type activity and collaborative research. Applicants are encouraged to use AMSI premises if practicable as they are modern, very well equipped and centrally located, with good access to transport and a range of hotels and other accommodation. Administrative support is also available.

Please provide proposals in plain text or pdf format only.

Within the present budgetary allocation, assessment of proposals is not competitive but purely on scientific merit and likely national impact.

Workshop funding typically supports 20-30 people for the duration of the workshop. In the past, typical budgets have between $5,000 and $10,000, although applications for smaller and larger amounts of funding have been considered on their merits. From now on, we anticipate being able to support travel of invited speakers coming from abroad; this has only rarely been possible in the past. Therefore, future budgets are likely to be somewhat higher than those for past meetings.

Our approach to eligibility for workshops is flexible, and (for example) we allow bi- or multilateral proposals involving other countries and more than one site. In such cases, AMSI would support within-Australia costs of meetings.

Our model for Special Theme Programs has been broadly similar to that of research institutes abroad. However, we feel that, because of Australia's relatively small scientific community, some modifications may be necessary. In particular, programs which run for two weeks to a month might be preferable to the longer programs often found abroad, if they are to be intensive. However, applications for support of programs that run for longer periods are welcome.

In the past, anticipated budgets for Special Theme Programs have been in the range $20,000 to $30,000 for activities of up to one month, more for longer programs. For the future, some funding is likely to be available for travel of overseas invited speakers in connection with Special Theme programs.

Any workshop or theme program proposal should have a budget, and provide adequate motivation for the meeting. It should indicate the number of likely attendees from Australia including students and post docs, name some of the key people, list the main invited speakers and give reasons why they have been chosen. All of the Scientific Advisory Committee's deliberations are by email. It is therefore a good idea to send your proposal in plain-text format as this makes it easier for members of the committee to read the proposal, and to comment on it, especially if they are traveling. A proposal for a workshop need not be any longer than a half-page to a page, as long as it provides the information above. Since the amount of money requested for Special Theme Programs is relatively large, the case made needs to be stronger. In particular, special attention should be paid to demonstrating national need, and to exemplifying potential interest.

When requesting support for travel expenses of invited speakers, be sure to make a case for the national need to support that particular speaker in connection with the activity.

AMSI will not support regular workshops, conferences or other meetings, such as "The Annual Canberra Reunion of Stochastic Topologists". However, it may support workshops that are run in parallel with such gatherings, provided they offer something special to the Australian mathematical sciences community (i.e. something different from the usual meeting, of interest to a range of people other than those who generally attend the meeting). The proposal should make it clear that support is not being sought for the regular meeting, but to expand/increase participation in the associated workshop. AMSI will not usually fund special sessions at conferences. We may support satellite meetings associated with major conferences, however.

Delegate travel

Event organisers do not need to budget for travel subsidies for delegate travel to events. AMSI has supplied every member institution with a travel budget for this purpose. Intending delegates only need to apply to their Head of Mathematics or Statistics for consideration. The budget is primarily intended for students and early career researchers, who do not normally have access to grant funds. However its use is at the discretion of the Head. The process, including suggested wording for the web site, is set out here.

Promotion

AMSI requires that its sponsorship and logo (where feasible) appear on the conference web page, on all publicity including calls for papers and announcement emails, and on the program and other material given to delegates.

If AMSI is the principal sponsor, this should be noted. In this case too, the sponsorship information should definitely be on the conference home page and prominent in the other material. In most such cases, AMSI expects that the event would be formally named along the lines of 'The AMSI XYZ Workshop'.

Delegate feedback

AMSI will supply a standard feedback form that we request organisers to use to collect participant responses to the event.

Reporting

AMSI requires each organiser to provide a report after the workshop so that AMSI in turn can report to its members (in documents such as the Annual Report) and to governments supporting AMSI and ICE-EM activities. The report (excluding detailed financials but including AMSI sponsorship details for the guidance of others) will also be put on the AMSI website. The information provided will assist in supporting arguments for the value of activities that AMSI and its members undertake and will assist AMSI and ICE-EM to improve their facilitation processes.

Please provide items 1-3 of the report in a standard word processor or text or spreadsheet form, as appropriate. (Not pdf, so that reported items inappropriate for making public can be edited.)

1. A 1-2 page report on the workshop addressing briefly the following points:
  -   Reason for holding the workshop
  -   Target audience
  -   Marketing
  -   Organising committee (names, organisation)
  -   Special presenters and (very briefly) their international reputations
  -   Topics covered
  -   Participant profile (e.g. numbers by organisation, undergraduate/postgradaute/postdoctoral/industry,       Australian/international)
  -   Measures of success (attendance, analysis of data from feedback form)
  -   Feedback from a review of the seminar by the organising committee (e.g. would you do anything different next       time, how could AMSI improve its assistance?)
Note that the report should be written as though to a colleague from another AMSI member institution who doesn't know anything about your workshop.

2. Financial reporting:
  -   Sponsorships, including in-kind
  -   Scholarships offered and taken
  -   Fees charged
  -   Income and expenditure (noting which items of expenditure were from the AMSI sponsorship)

3. Electronic list of delegates and institutions, including email addresses (only for informing them of future AMSI events). The list will be put in the report on the web site but without contact details. If you think it is necessary, obtain permission for this.

4. Electronic copy of program, including at least the invited speakers (and their institutions), titles of presentations and abstracts if available.

Applications

Expressions of Interest should be addressed to: Prof. Peter Hall,
Chair, AMSI Scientific Advisory Committee,
Department of Mathematics and Statistics,
University of Melbourne, VIC 3010
(halpstat@ms.unimelb.edu.au)

Note about ICE-EM

The International Centre of Excellence for Education in Mathematics (ICE-EM) forms a major part of AMSI's work. ICE-EM will be presenting advanced scientific courses as well as specialist courses and programs for industry under the generic term "technology transfer". There is scope to involve prominent overseas speakers from those programs in AMSI workshops and theme programs, and vice versa. Please keep this in mind, also the fact that ICE-EM's advanced courses will often be about the cutting edge of research. Contact Neil Trudinger (neil.trudinger@anu.edu.au) for information about the ICE-EM Advanced Coursework Program and Garth Gaudry (garth@amsi.org.au) about the ICE-EM industry program. Further details of planned ICE-EM courses and presenters are available on the ICE-EM website.