The IEEE RAS ICRA 2017 Broadening Participation (BP) Travel Grants program is an outreach effort to broaden the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society (RAS) community by enabling participation at the 2017 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) by RAS members who would otherwise not be able to attend. In particular, this program is for non-author faculty and post-doctoral researchers from developing countries (as defined by the IEEE) who do not regularly publish in RAS conferences or other visible international conferences related to robotics and automation.

The RAS BP Travel Grants program is designed to engage the participants with the RAS community at the conference.  Each participant will be assigned a mentor from RAS who will introduce them to relevant researchers and RAS members. A networking event will be held at the beginning of the conference to introduce the participants to each other, their mentors, and other key RAS members. The participants will be included in the relevant RAS events during the conference, e.g., Young Professionals Lunch, WIE Lunch, and participants will be encouraged to participate in relevant workshops.

Travel awards will cover conference registration and partial reimbursement for lodging and travel. Reimbursement information will be provided when awards are announced and reimbursements will be processed after attendance at ICRA 2017.

 

Important Dates

  • Application deadline: February 1, 2017
  • Awards announced: February 15, 2017
 

Application Process

The online travel grant application is available at https://parasol.tamu.edu/ieee/production/apps/icra_bptravelgrants/

The application requests should include the following:

  • Information about the applicant
  • Resume/CV of the applicant to be uploaded to the system
  • Statement about how participation will impact the applicant and their institution
  • Letter of support from department head/chair (for faculty) and advisor (for postdocs)
  • Letter of endorsement from local or regional IEEE RAS chapter, if applicable

If an applicant receives travel support, he/she must participate in the engagement activities organized at the conference, and complete brief reports after the conference.

 

Support and Information

For questions regarding the ICRA BP Travel Grants, please contact rasbptravelgrants@gmail.com.