We are pleased to announce that Julia Computing will be offering small grants to fund efforts to increase diversity and inclusion within the Julia community, using funds graciously provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Examples of qualifying projects or activities may include efforts to create teaching materials on or using Julia targeted at late entrants to computing, efforts to improve or translate documentation, and hosting Julia events that will target or benefit underrepresented populations in computing. Each proposal may request up to $4,000 USD, which may be put towards labor hours and resources required to carry out the proposed activity. The deadline to apply is Sunday, November 25, and award announcements will be made within one week.
Details
How this will work
Julia Computing plans to award $15,000 USD in grants for projects that will increase the diversity and inclusiveness of the Julia community. The total amount awarded may be adjusted up or down based on the number and quality of proposals received.
A maximum of $4,000 USD may be requested per project.
Work supported by these diversity and inclusion grants should be undertaken between December 2018 and June 2019.
The deadline to apply is Sunday, November 25.
Recipients will receive payment for the first half of their award at the beginning of the granting period.
Recipients will receive payment for the second half of their award halfway through the project period - either in March 2019 or possibly sooner, for shorter term projects.
Requirements of participation
Each recipient agrees to provide a maximum one page summary of the status of the project before the second half of the award is granted.
Each recipient agrees to write a blog post summarizing the project undertaken and its impact at the end of the project period.
How to apply
Please submit applications via Google form to https://goo.gl/forms/KyXoRIDmF4zStKYC3. There you will be prompted to upload a PDF addressing the following questions:
(1) What is the proposed activity?
(2) How will the proposed activity help make the Julia community more inclusive and ultimately more diverse?
(3) Will you be able to measure the impact of your project? If so, how? If not, why?
(4) What funds/resources does your project require and why? If you were granted 50% of the funds you've requested, would you be able to use those funds to do impactful work?
(5) Do you agree to provide a status update halfway through the grant period and a blog post at the end of the grant period?
In addressing the above questions, additional information to consider providing includes whether or not you have experience taking on activities like those you are proposing, additional benefits that your project will bring to the Julia community, and whether your project will focus on attracting or retaining people of diverse backgrounds to the Julia community (or both).
Criteria for evaluation
Proposals will be evaluated based on answers to the questions above. We recognize that efforts to incite systemic change can have long time horizons. Please consider applying if you have an idea for a project/activity that you believe will take an important step towards increasing the Julia community's inclusiveness, even if you are not sure you will be able to measure the impact of your project on the diversity of our community on the timescale of only a few months.
If you have questions please contact Jane Herriman at jane@juliacomputing.com. We look forward to hearing from you!