SPS Travel Grants

SPS Travel Grants

The IEEE Signal Processing Society (SPS) is pleased to provide travel grants on a highly competitive basis to student authors and non-student authors in developing countries. The grants will be awarded to a limited number of applicants who have a genuine need for support, and the paper quality will be taken into consideration. SPS membership is required at the time when the application is made. Find out more information on how to join SPS.

The grants can only be used to cover the travel expenses for applicants to attend the approved conference. The grants, if approved, will be on a reimbursement basis following instructions given to grantees. The SPS travel grant selection and oversight committees reserve the right to make the final decision regarding all applications.

Current On-Going Grants

• Current Travel Grant Deadlines and Information

If you have any questions, please email the Travel Grant Team with a required subject line "SPS Travel Grant Question: Your Last Name (Conference Acronym e.g. ICIP 2022, ICASSP 2022, etc)".

Applicants

Q. Currently I am not an SPS member. Am I eligible to receive the SPS grant?

Unfortunately no, but you can join the Signal Processing Society now to become eligible. The SPS travel grant is one of the many benefits for SPS members. In order for your application to be considered, current SPS membership is required at the time of application. The SPS membership fee, especially the student fee, is equivalent to only a small fraction of the average size of SPS travel grants made in recent years. New members may be eligible for a half-year rate for applications submitted between March and August.

For more information, please visit the Membership page to learn more. On the same page, you'll find information about special circumstances for reduced IEEE and SPS membership fees, often by 50% or more. These include e-membership for developing nations, and reduced rate for circumstances of low income, retirement, or unemployment.

Do I need to renew my SPS membership if the conference will be held in the next calendar year following the application?

Yes. This situation may apply to an ICASSP conference when it is held in early spring. If you are selected for a travel grant, you must remember to renew your membership, so that you have a valid membership for the calendar year when the respective conference is held. Failing to renew your membership may lead to automatic withdrawal of the grant.

Authorship

Q. I have a paper accepted by one of the SPS workshops. Can I apply for the SPS Travel Grant?

Currently, the SPS travel grant is open to ICASSP and ICIP conferences every year. Individual workshops may arrange some travel support to authors, but it is not through this program. Please check with the workshop organizers for more information.

Q. I submitted a paper to ICASSP and/or ICIP but it wasn’t accepted by the conference. Am I eligible for a travel grant?

Unfortunately, no. Applicants must be authors of ACCEPTED papers. SPS Travel Grants are provided by the IEEE Signal Processing Society on a highly competitive basis to student authors and non-student authors in developing and non-developing countries. Higher priority will be given to eligible applicants from developing countries.

Grant Priority

Q. I received an IEEE SPS Travel Grant for ICIP 2020. Am I eligible to apply for an IEEE SPS Travel Grant for ICIP 2021?

If you have a genuine need for travel support and satisfy both the membership and author eligibility requirements, you may apply. Eligible applicants who have already received an SPS Travel Grant in the past 12 months may have a lower priority compared to those who have not received an SPS Travel Grant. Based on the fund availability and the pool of applications, the Travel Grant Selection Committee will determine whether or not you will be selected this time, and if so, how much funds you will be awarded.

Q. I am a student in a university that isn’t in a developing country. Am I eligible to apply for an IEEE SPS Travel Grant?

As a SPS student member, if you have a genuine need for travel support and satisfy the authorship requirement, you may apply. Higher priority will be given to eligible applicants from developing countries. Based on the fund availability and the pool of applications, the Travel Grant Selection Committee will determine whether or not you will be selected to receive a grant, and if so, how much funds you will be awarded.

Q. I am originally from China but am now studying (or working) in the United States. Which Region will my application be considered to belong to?

We will follow IEEE’s geographic classification of your membership to determine the eligibility and priority of your grant application. Typically, you will be considered a member of Region 1-6 (U.S.), unless your visit to the U.S. is short term and your membership addresses on your IEEE record states your home country.

Q. I am a faculty member in a University in India (Region 10). Does my recommender (a senior colleague) have to be from the same University? Can I get the recommendation from a senior faculty member of a US University who is much more familiar with my research work? Can the recommender be a co-author of the ICIP 2020 paper (who would not be attending ICIP 2020)?

Your reference person does not have to be from the same institution. You may ask a senior colleague from another institution and/or another country to serve as reference, provided that he/she is familiar with your research work.

If you wish, you may ask a co-author of your accepted paper to serve as a reference. Please be reminded that by submitting a paper to the respective conference, the author team has committed to have at least one author to attend the conference and present the work in person once the paper is accepted. This commitment holds regardless of the outcome of the SPS travel grant application.

Q. My research group and/or institution can provide partial support for my travel. Can I apply for full support from the SPS Travel Grant program?

View a list of developing countries according to IEEE.

Having a genuine need for travel support is one of the key requirements. You should only request the amount that is necessary. The Travel Grant Selection Committee may grant a different amount from what you requested.

You should work with your supervisor and institution/company to identify as much resources as possible to support your travel to the respective conference. You should request only the amount that isn’t covered by other resources. Applications that demonstrate such effort may be considered favorably during the grant selection.

Applicants who intentionally provide false or misleading information will be disqualified from the current and future SPS grant offering.

Change of Plan

Q. I was awarded a travel grant, but because of passport and other issues, I won't be able to come to the conference. A colleague of mine will present the paper on my behalf. Can you transfer the grant to him/her?

We are sorry that you are unable to attend the conference, but we generally do not transfer the grant to another person as you suggest. The selection committee takes multiple factors into account to make the selection from the pool of candidates. When a grant is declined, the fund goes back to the general pool, and the committee will determine the use of the fund (such as awarding to other applicants in this or a future conference).

Please be reminded that by submitting a paper to the respective conference, the author team has committed to have at least one author to attend the conference and present the work in person once the paper is accepted. This commitment holds regardless of the outcome of the SPS travel grant application.