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NeurIPS 2021 Financial Assistance

Neural Information Processing Systems Foundation is proud to provide registration fee assistance or some financial support for bandwidth/internet needs to individuals for whom these fees would cause a financial burden.  Students with accepted papers are particularly encouraged to apply.

Funds available this year:

  • Conference registration fee waiver: If you are applying for a registration fee waiver, please do not register for the conference until you hear from us about the decision on your application. If you have already registred and you recieve a complimentary registration, your registration fee will be refunded to your credit card.
  • Internet bandwidth and VPN support: Intended to cover extra costs of internet access if your current internet bandwidth or lack of privacy are a barrier to your full participation in the conference. Bandwidth subsidies would be for high-speed internet access for the duration of the conference only. VPN funds could be used towards ensuring private internet connection (for example, for queer people concerned about their safety and privacy when attending Queer in AI events).
  • Caregiving and accessibility support: Caregiving support covers extra costs for caring for dependents if your caretaker responsibilities are a barrier to your participation in the conference. These can be babysitting or other support required for yourself or your dependents. Accessibility grants cover extra costs for any personal or technical assistance to access and navigate the conference due to a disability. For example, if you need assistance in using gather.town due to a visual impairment.

Instructions: To apply to any (or all) of these grants please fill out this form.

Selection criteria: Applicants will be evaluated based on the material they submit. Preference will be given to applicants who are presenting a paper in the main conference or the workshops or affinity workshops, and those who do not have other means of support.

Reimbursements: If you apply for the internet bandwidth/VPN support and/or caregiving/accessibility support, you will need to provide receipts for your purchases and will be reimbursed after the conference. We expect most grants to be $100 or less, but we may allocate more if appropriate justification is provided and if the budget allows.

Application deadline: November 26, 2021 (6:00 pm Pacific Time)

Notification of acceptance: By November 29, 2021.

Platforms used to send money: PayPal and Airtime Top-up on WorldRemit.

PayPal

  • PayPal's list of countries and markets
    • Please check that you can receive money (not available in all listed countries)
  • PROS
    • Directly receive money, linked to a bank account
  • CONS
    • Many countries are not covered
    • Higher fees
    • It takes one or few days before the funds can be withdrawn to a bank account (but typically available immediately for PayPal payments)

Airtime Top-up on WorldRemit

  • What's Airtime Top-up?
  • Countries covered
    • Please check that your telecom network is supported
  • PROS
    • Better coverage in some regions (e.g., Africa)
    • Lower fees
    • Typically available instantly or within a few minutes
  • CONS
    • The funding is in the form of a mobile recharge, which could limit how you can use the funds
    • Limits on the daily transactions / maximum transaction amount, which may require splitting the payment