IEEE Signal Processing Society offers funding to SPS members and chapters to encourage volunteerism and society involvement in local activities. The Society offers funding opportunities for several subprograms under the Member Driven Initiatives program.
In 2021, the MDI program launched two new programs in addition to the existing Seasonal School and Chapter Initiative funding to increase involvement locally through Regional Events and Forums.
SPS members and Chapters can request up to:
- US$3,500 in support for in-person or hybrid events
- US$2,500 for virtual events.
Member Driven Initiatives
Member Driven Initiative proposals are reviewed on a semi-annual basis.
- Cycle 1 initiatives (formerly "summer") are events held during April-September and have a proposal submission deadline typically around January.
- Cycle 2 Initiatives (formerly "winter") are events held during October-March and have a proposal submission deadline typically around June.
Current calls for proposals will be sent to all SPS members and posted to the Call for Proposals page on the SPS website.
Initiative options are outlined below:
Seasonal Schools in Signal Processing (S3P)
Seasonal schools are geared towards providing attendees with specialized background in select signal processing topics, professors and established practitioners work with attendees in virtual tutorials and applications, and building meaningful collaborative relationships. For more details, visit the Seasonal Schools page.
Forums
Aimed at networking events with topics of interest to industry members. Formats include panel sessions and presentations or lectures by industry experts. Content should be created based on interest to industry and cannot include papers for publication.
Regional Meetings
Local high quality technical events (such as local workshops or small conferences) to serve the local or regional community. Events should target themes of interest to SPS members. Meetings can include conference paper publications.
Chapter Initiatives
Submitted by the local Chapter, these interactive events are designed to provide attendees with specialized background in select signal processing topics, chapter-centered events for practicing engineers, chapter meetings featuring industry executives, outreach to get students at primary schools interested in signal processing, design competitions, or other ideas.
For more information, questions, email sps-mdi@listserv.ieee.org.
Eligibility and Proposal Submission Process
Eligibility
The following eligibility requirements must be met for the proposal to be considered.
- Each SPS Chapter and SPS Student Branch Chapter can only submit a total of 4 proposals per year, with up to 2 proposals per sub-program. The Chapters should be vetting all proposals and determining which proposals will be submitted to either Cycle 1 or Cycle 2 of the call for proposal period.
- Student Branch Chapters (SBC) must submit a completed SBC and Chapter Collaboration Acknowledgement form that includes a signature from the local Chapter endorsing the proposal. If this form is not submitted for proposals submitted by SBCs, the proposal will not be considered.
- All proposals must have a completed Member Driven Initiative Detailed Budget Form.
- All proposals containing honoraria or travel support must have a completed Member Driven Initiative Detailed Honoraria Form.
- Organizers must agree to Reporting Requirements for approved proposals. See Section 10
- Monthly updates must be submitted via the link in an email sent to the organizer.
- Reports Final report must be submitted within 30 days of completion of the event following the instructions given in Section.
How to Submit your Proposal
Seasonal School, Forum, Regional Meeting, and Chapter Initiative proposals that meet all eligibility requirements can be submitted using the following steps.
Proposal Submission Process
- Create your proposal. Draft your proposal using the MDI Proposal Draft Information available in the SPS MDI Proposal Submission Resources folder.
- Submit your proposal. (First Submission Phase) Submit your drafted proposal to your local Regional-Director-at-Large via the following form: MDI Proposal Submission to RDAL Form
- Receive feedback. Receive feedback from your Regional-Director-at-Large about your drafted proposal and obtain a recommendation to submit your proposal to the second phase.
- Submit your proposal. (Second Submission Phase) After receiving the recommendation from the RDAL, submit your proposal (with any revisions suggested) to the official MDI submission platform as referenced in the Official Call for Proposals.The link will be provided in your notification email.
Notification of Decision. Decisions for approved proposals and respective funding amounts will be sent to the organizers of proposals.
Current Call for Proposal - Member Driven Initiative (MDI) Program
View the full 2026 Cycle 1 Member Driven Initiative Call for Proposal here ›
View the Membership Event Organizer Guidelines: For all SPS financially sponsored and co-sponsored membership related events with the main purpose to help organizers create coherent event experiences while remaining compliant with IEEE and SPS policies.
Contacts and Resources
- Questions about the SPS Member Driven Initiative program or Seasonal Schools? Visit the Organize Local Events & Member Driven Initiatives page for more information.
- Questions, issues accessing any linked documents or forms, or any other inquiries regarding the Member Driven Initiative program can be emailed to sps-mdi@listserv.ieee.org.
- Upcoming initiative events and conferences can be found on the Upcoming Events page.
- Download the SPS Proposal Information document.
- Download the Proposal Submission Checklist document.
- Download the Detailed Budget Form.
- Download the Detailed Honoraria Form (if applicable).
- [Student Branch Chapters] Download the SBC and Chapter Collaboration Acknowledgement.
- Your initiative proposal can be submitted to the Regional-Directors-at-Large, during the open Call for Proposals period.
- Your Final Report can be submitted here (Please note, you should have received an email with an ‘update request’ that you can enter the final report as well.) You can find helpful tools and necessary forms here: SPS MDI Final Report Resources.
