The SIGCHI Development Fund (SDF) provides resources for the SIGCHI community to spur communication, innovation, and expansion of HCI at the global and local levels. As we have in the past, we continue to invite projects aiming to experiment with new opportunities, reach out to new groups, promote sustainability, inclusivity, and accessibility, and support mentoring opportunities. All SIGCHI members are eligible to apply. Please see our call for proposals for submission instructions, evaluation criteria, funding caps, and review timelines.
Submit your proposals at: https://sigchi.submittable.com/submit/223441/development-fund
The SDF has an ongoing open call, and you can expect results around one month after the submission. For transparency, awarded proposals will be announced periodically on the SIGCHI Medium blog. Please, look at the FAQs below, or email sigchi-dev-fund@acm.org with any questions about SDF or fixes/feedback for the application form.
Frequently Asked Questions
- How are funds disbursed?
Funds are disbursed in two different ways, depending on whether the event happens at a SIGCHI conference or not.
Sponsored initiative: If the event/initiative is (part of) a SIGCHI sponsored or co-sponsored conference, expenses will be mainly reimbursed. Conference registrations will be handled via the generation of complimentary codes, as we cannot reimburse registrations. We will not pay for the labor cost of ACM and/or SIGCHI members, gift cards (or similar), or services already provided by the conference, and we discourage the purchase of equipment. If, however, equipment is absolutely required and cannot be provided by others, please discuss this first via email with us. All financial claims are guided by our SIGCHI Volunteer Reimbursement Policy and ACM policies on what can be claimed and how.
Supported initiative: If the event/initiative is happening outside a SIGCHI conference, the funds will be disbursed to the primary sponsoring organization (a university, a company, a non-profit, etc.) as a lump sum check. In detail, the organization that is mainly sponsoring the event will need to submit an invoice via email with the wire transfer details on its end, and fill out a tax form to be submitted online to the ACM. We cannot process any payment to individuals in this case. While we are providing financial support for the activity, SIGCHI is not legally or financially liable for the event and thus cannot sign contracts, collect revenues, or reimburse expenses. - In case of a supported initiative, do I need to submit receipts?
No, we only need the invoice with the grand total of the expenses within the approved budget, since SIGCHI is not legally or financially liable for the event. - When are funds disbursed?
Between 2-3 weeks after the request for reimbursements (sponsored initiative) or the reception of the invoice and tax form (supported initiative). - Can the invoice be in a language different from English for a supported event?
If the primary sponsoring organization can only create an invoice in a language other than English, we need both the original invoice and its English translation to process the payment. - Who is reviewing the submissions?
Generally, the SIGCHI Development Fund Committee reviews each submission. When a proposal involves a SIGCHI chapter or a SIGCHI conference, the proposal is passed to the respective committee (i.e., Chapters or Conferences committee). Instead, the Sustainability Committee reviews specific sustainability initiatives for funding local and global collaborations. - When can I expect a decision about a submitted proposal?
You can expect decisions around one month after the submission. - Can I change the timeline or the budget of an approved proposal?
Awarded proposals are only for the time period and the budget specified in the proposal. A significant deviation in the period of the activity or any change to the maximum approved budget must be re-approved. You can request such approval via email. Please note that approval for such requests is not guaranteed. - After receiving the funds, can I keep any leftovers for follow-up activities?
Unfortunately not. The remaining funds need to be returned. Support is given for the approved initiative only.