Google Student Awards

The W4A 2012 Organising Committee are delighted to announce that, two awards, each of up to US$1200 (including registration), are available to support students to enable them to attend W4A 2012. We now invite applications with a deadline of February 28th, 2012.

The Third “Google Student Awards Programme”, is organised to give an opportunity to high quality students with limited funding to attend the W4A Conference.

Our deadlines have been chosen to give as much time as possible to allow successful applicants to make their travel and accommodation arrangements.

Students with interests related to this year’s topic are encouraged but it is certainly not a requirement as all students with an interest in accessibility technologies are welcome to apply.

Eligibility

This award is open to any student in a postgraduate position (part time or full time Masters students and above – however, we would mainly expect Doctoral candidates) at a University or other Higher Education institution, AND who is carrying out research that is directly relevant to the field of web accessibility. We particularly encourage applicants from under-represented parts of the world.

Award Judges

Giorgio Brajnik (University of Udine – Italy);
Vicki Hanson (University of Dundee – UK);
Amy Hurst (UMBC – USA); and
Jonathan Lazar (Towson University).

Submission details

Please send these documents with a covering email to students2012-at-w4a.info – You will receive an email acknowledgement on successful receipt of your application.

A 500 word statement in ACM format outlining your interest in web accessibility, why you wish to attend and what you hope to achieve by attending W4A 2012. This can include details of your accessibility research, its originality and its anticipated impact on end users.
A letter of support from your research supervisor, confirming your position as an accessibility researcher.
A completed application form including personal details (http://www.w4a.info/common/backingfiles/Award-Application.doc).
More Information on Submission Details

Judging criteria

Each submission will be carefully reviewed by members of the W4A Steering Committee. Submissions will be judged on a number of quality factors, each of which you should consider when writing your application:

Awareness of the field of web accessibility;
Originality and potential impact of your research;
This award is aimed at supporting students who otherwise would not be able to attend W4A for financial reasons, so you should also provide an indication of current funding limitations (including details of any unsuccessful attempts to secure funding to attend).
Relevance of your research to the theme of this year’s conference; however, submissions from the broad area of Web Accessibility are also welcomed.

Award details

The awards are made as follows:

Both successful applicants will be entitled to support of up to US$1200, covering expenses incurred in attending W4A 2012 (including reasonable travel, accommodation and subsistence costs).
Payment will be made by way of reimbursing expenses incurred. Receipts will be required as evidence of purchase – without these we will be unable to make any payment.
Both successful applicants will be provided with free registration as a conference delegate for the two days of W4A 2012.

Expectations

Conditions of receiving the award are as follows. Successful applicants will:

Attend the conference as an active delegate.
Present for 15 minutes on their research and the likely impact on the field of web accessibility, as part of a dedicated session in the conference.
Write a post-event reflective report on W4A 2012. This will be published on the W4A web site, and may also be submitted to other publications, such as the ACM SIGACCESS newsletter.