Scholarships

For the fourth time, we are running our Scholarship Program, which provides individuals from underrepresented groups with support to attend JSConf EU and CSSconf EU.

We are very grateful and would like to say a big Thank You to the companies and individuals who donate to our Scholarship Program. In 2018, we were able to give away 80 tickets and we hope to be able to invite even more people in 2019.

Anyone from an underrepresented group in tech is invited to apply for a scholarship. We especially invite and welcome Black, Indigenous & People of Color, QTIBIPOC/LGBTQIA+ people, people with disabilities, and people facing economic or social hardships.

If you’ve always wanted to visit JSConf and/or CSSconf EU, but haven’t had the money or resources to, this is your chance! The Scholarship Program was made for you.

❤️ Granting these scholarships is made possible thanks to the wonderful people that buy Diversity Support Tickets, as well as the generous contributions made by our sponsors. More help is needed – talk to us if you’d like to get involved: scholarship@jsconf.eu.

Scholarship applications have closed since the 11th of March!

Voting Process

Voting happens within a jury of four:

• Olivia Hugger
• Princiya Sequeira
• Simone Haas
• Thuy Le

Here’s how we select scholarship recipients:

• Anonymize submissions, so we don’t bias against anything related to the submitter
• There are two rounds of voting for each form:
  • In the first round, we each review every submission and rate them from 0 to 3
  • In the second round, we compare our votes and factor in budget and location
• Finally, we de-anonymize submissions and create a list of people who have been accepted within our budget, and a waiting list in case a scholarship recipient can’t make it or our budget increases

Frequently Asked Questions

I’m not a member of an underrepresented group, can I apply?

We will likely not consider you in our selection process.

What does the scholarship entail?

We provide two kinds of scholarships, one with travel grant and one without.

If you get selected for a scholarship with travel support, you will receive a combo ticket to CSSconf/JSConf EU 2019. Additionally and dependent on what you need, we will organize and cover your flights/transport and/or hotel (up to 4 nights). We will get in touch with you to discuss further travel details but if you have any questions beforehand, please reach out to us via scholarship@jsconf.eu.

In case you get a ticket-only scholarship, you will receive just a combo ticket to CSSconf/JSConf EU 2019.

How long are applications open for and when will I get feedback?

This depends on whether you need a visa to enter Germany. We have two separate application timelines for people who need a visa and people who do not need a visa (i.e. Schengen area residents). The timelines are as follows:

• If you need a visa: From 15th of November, 2018 until 30th of January, 2019. Our feedback for this application round will be provided by Friday, 22nd February, 2019.
• If you do not need a Visa: From 15th of November, 2018 until 10th of March, 2019. Our feedback for this application round will be provided by Friday, April 5, 2019 (postponed from Friday, March 29, 2019).

Can I apply for a scholarship again if I got one last year?

For the sake of fairness we don’t give away a scholarship to the same person within 2 years, this means we won’t consider anyone who has already received a scholarship for CSSconf/JSConf EU in 2017 and 2018.

What is a support person?

In case you are invited to CSSconf and/or JSConf EU in any role (speaker, scholarship holder, MC, artist), you are asked, if you need a support person to attend the event either for support during travel and/or during the whole event. If needed and you can’t afford to cover the extra costs for a support person, we are happy to cover the costs for you and help with travel, accommodation and a ticket to the conference(s).

A support person is necessary to protect the health and safety of the person with impairments/disabilities during the travel and/or events.

The role of a support person is for example:

• Sign Language interpretation
• Prompting or giving advice, including requesting a break if needed
• Providing physical support during travel and/or the event
• Providing emotional support and reassurance during travel and/or the event

Why are scholarship holders without a travel grant being charged 20 EUR per conference day?

This is a good and valid question. In the past we unfortunately experienced a small number of scholarship holders that neither informed us beforehand nor showed up at the conference. Therefore we had tickets left which we were not able to give to another scholarship applicant from the waiting list. Applicants who needed a visa and travel were not among this group since we are in contact with them the weeks before the conference to book travel and hotel. That’s why we decided to take a small fee per conference day for the scholarships without travel grants, just to make sure that people who are not able to attend inform us on time.

The fee is refunded once you attend the conference or inform us on time (until 2019, 29th May) if you can not make it at all.

How can I get an invitation letter for my visa?

Once you get selected for the scholarship, we will send you a form from which we will create an invitation letter for visa. This might take some time, so if your country has specific time restrictions on visas, please let us know in advance via scholarship@jsconf.eu.