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MLSys 2022 Call for Student Travel Grants Applications

Thanks to the generous support of the U.S. National Science Foundation, MLSys 2022 is pleased to offer travel grants to students, postdocs, and early-career researchers. This travel grant provides opportunities for students, postdocs, and early-career researchers who would not otherwise have resources to attend the conference to engage in technical, professional, educational, and social exchanges that MLSys fosters. The travel grant provides $1000 to each awardee to partially cover costs such as registration fee, lodging, and airfare. The awardees will pay for the expenses ahead of time and get reimbursed after the conference. The travel grant selection committee reserves the right to award a different amount than what is requested based on the availability of funds.

How to Apply

We encourage applications from U.S.-based students and/or recent graduates in academia who have received their terminal degree no earlier than 2019. Applications from under-represented minorities are particularly encouraged. All application materials (applicant’s info, CV, and letters) should be submitted electronically via https://forms.gle/6b3MWePMkwvLp3Qc7.

An application for a travel grant will consist of 

  • a letter (up to 1 page) from the student outlining the rationale.
  • An up-to-date CV (up to 4 pages), 
  • and a recommendation letter (up to 1 page) from the student’s advisor or faculty mentor. The recommendation letter can be directly uploaded by the applicant during the application process (Recommended). Alternatively, the advisor can directly email the recommendation letter to mlsys2022@gmail.com if confidentiality is a concern.

All materials should be compiled into a single PDF for uploading. 

The letter from the student should describe why they believe they would benefit from attending the MLSys 2022 conference (including whether the student will present a paper at the conference), describe areas reflected in the MLSys 2022 program that would impact the student’s research, and indicate whether they have attended the MLSys conference in the past. 

The letter from the student’s advisor should indicate why the advisor believes the student would benefit from attending the conference and give the advisor’s opinion about the strengths and potential research contributions of the student. The advisor should also explain the need for funding, and explicitly commit in their letter to covering their students’ remaining travel costs beyond the travel grant.=

The awardees are required to submit their expenses after the conference for expense reimbursement. The student travel grant awardees are asked to work with the Panel and Young Professional Activities Chair to put together a conference summary that discusses MLSys-2022 papers, talks, and their experiences at the MLSys conference for reporting purposes.

Selection Criteria

Recipients of the travel grants will be chosen by the Student Travel Grant Selection Committee, which will be composed of a subset of the MLSys organizing committee. Selection criteria will include evidence of a serious interest in MLSys-related topics, as demonstrated by coursework and/or project experience; the strength of the advisor’s letter; and regional, institutional, and demographic diversity. We will give priority to students whose receipt of a travel grant will enable the attendance of MLSys that otherwise will not be possible.  

Important dates

  • Application deadline: June 29, 2022
  • Decision notification: July 6, 2022