Travel Grants

The ELLIS unit Amsterdam provides travel grants for BSc and MSc students of the University of Amsterdam to present their papers at top-tier ML or AI conferences. Students are encouraged to submit a request for funding after acceptance of the paper, but well before the camera-ready deadline of their paper. Note that the quality of the conference will be important for the decision to grant the award.

Who can apply?

To be eligible for an ELLIS travel grant, applicants must:

• Be a bachelor’s or master’s student at the University of Amsterdam’s Faculty of Science
• Have written a paper on an ELLIS-relevant topic that is accepted at the main venue of a top-tier conference (machine learning or artificial intelligence related)*. Papers accepted at workshops (including those held in conjunction with top-tier conferences) no longer qualify for this grant.
• Be the presenting author of the paper. Only one student (among co-authors) per paper can apply for the ELLIS/Qualcomm travel grant. MSc AI students can only apply if they have also requested the MSc AI internal funding for conference visits. The ELLIS travel grant can be used as a top-up for expenses that exceed the amount funded by this MSc AI programme.

What can be applied for?

Costs eligible to be covered by the ELLIS travel grant are costs for travel, accommodation, conference registration, and meals. In their application, students are asked to submit a budget with a reasonable estimate for these costs (please see: https://www.caorijk.nl/cao-rijk/bijlage-6). In case the travel grant is awarded, the student’s actual costs will be reimbursed retroactively upon submission of receipts and/or invoices, if reasonable. The recipients of the travel grants should submit all the expense claims in one time/attempt.

MSc AI students can only apply for the ELLIS travel grant if they have also requested the MSc AI internal funding for conference visits. The ELLIS travel grant can be used as a top-up for expenses that exceed the amount funded by the MSc AI programme.

How to apply?

To apply, please send a completed application form (word/pdf) along with details on your paper and travel to ellisinfo-science@uva.nl along with the following information:

– The title and abstract of the accepted paper (on the form);

– A budget with estimated costs for the conference visit (on the form);

– The complete list of names of all the authors of the paper (on the form);

– Acceptance notification of the paper;

– For MSc AI students: a confirmation that funds from the Msc AI have been requested (this should also be included in the budget);

– A one-page resumé and transcript of your grades so far.

What to do after the grant is awarded?

The ELLIS unit Amsterdam will ask the recipients of the ELLIS travel grant to acknowledge ELLIS and Qualcomm in the acknowledgments section of their paper and on their scientific posters or presentation slides. To make this possible, please apply as soon as you receive your acceptance notification. Furthermore, grantees are asked to provide their papers to the ELLIS unit Amsterdam. The name of the grantees, the title of the papers, and the conferences will be listed on the ELLIS unit Amsterdam website. The grantees are required to present their research at an ELLIS unit Amsterdam event.  

If you have questions regarding the travel grants, you may wish to check the FAQ below. If you still can’t find answers to your questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us at ellisinfo-science@uva.nl. Kindly let us know the complete list of names of all the authors of the paper.

*A maximum of two co-authors can receive the Travel Grants if the paper is accepted at the main venue of a top-tier conference