TRAVEL SCHOLARSHIPS

HiPC 2008 Announces Travel Scholarships for Students and India-Based Scholars
The International Conference on High-Performance Computing (HiPC) is the premier computer systems conference in India, emphasizing the areas of Architecture, Systems Software, Applications, Algorithms, and Communication Networks. This year's conference is being held in Bangalore from December 17 - 20, 2008. It serves as a forum to present current work by researchers from around the world as well as highlight activities in Asia in the high performance computing area. The meeting emphasizes both design and analysis of high performance computing systems and their scientific, engineering, and commercial applications. For more information about the conference, please visit its website at http://www.hipc.org.

We are pleased to announce Travel Scholarships for HiPC 2008 to promote research in HiPC areas in India. We would like to encourage the best students studying at engineering colleges in India to attend the conference through travel scholarships provided on a merit basis. The conference will expose students to current worldwide research and enable them to meet leading researchers in the computing area. This year's offer has several details and prospective applicants are requested to read them carefully. Please note that the number of scholarships is limited and the award of the scholarship is subject to compliance of the policies as described below.

Who May Apply
Students studying at engineering colleges and other educational institutions of repute in India are encouraged to attend the conference through travel scholarships provided on a merit basis. Although the scholarship is primarily meant for full time students, a limited number of scholarships will be made available under special circumstances for faculty members from Indian educational institutions. Those faculty members who do not have any financial support from their institution may also apply. Those applicants who are very serious in pursuing HiPC research shall be preferred.

Scholarship Details
Scholarship will be offered to a limited number of participants. Travel and accommodation expenses for the selected scholarship receipients will be subsidized by the conference. Note that all selected scholars will still have to register for the conference. Please visit the “Information for India-based Participants” page on http://www.hipc.org for the conference registration form. The reduced registration rates for India-based faculty and students have been made possible by generous sponsorship from India-based IT companies. Registration fees are the same for Scholarship recipients. When registering, they should specify “scholarship recipient”. The scholarship form is also available here.

In particular, the scholarship will include:

1. Two-way second/sleeper class train fare between your college or home and the venue of the conference, i.e., Bangalore.
2. Accommodation allowance for the period December 16-22, 2008.

Registration and What It Provides
As stated before, selected students/scholars will need to pay their registration fee for the conference. See the Advance Registration deadline of 16 November 2008 and note that higher fees apply after that date. The reduced fees for India-based students include participation in all workshops and technical sessions, as well as conference meals, refreshments, banquet and cultural event.

The student registration at the conference includes:
		Attendance at all HiPC 2008 workshops and tutorials
		Attendance at all technical sessions on December 18, 19, and 20
		Breakfast, lunch and refreshments on all four days
		Conference banquet and cultural event
		A CD-ROM of the proceedings

Selection Criteria

The following shall be considered (in no specific order) for the award of the scholarship:
		Authorship of a paper/poster at HiPC 2008.
		Academic Record.
		Prior exposure to research.

Please look at the application form for more details, which is available here.

Conditions for Disbursement of Scholarship
While most recipients are grateful for receiving funds and allowing them the opportunity to attend the HiPC conference, we must still set measures to prevent the misuse of funds. In that light, the following conditions must be met for the disbursement of scholarship:
		Scholars will be required to sign an attendance sheet available in each session. At the end of the day, they are to turn in a one page report of the sessions they attended. The report shall list the talks attended by the scholars in each session, a description about the highlights of what they have gained from that session, and list any questions or interaction they had with speakers, etc. This daily report is to be handed in at the registration desk at the end of each day.
		Scholars will be reimbursed their travel expenses on the last day of the conference. Scholars will be required to complete the travel reimbursement form available at the registration desk during the conference. They will need to provide the original ticket for the inward journey and also have a photocopy of the ticket for the outward journey. Scholars are requested not to surrender their ticket at the railway station.
		All scholars should also carry a photo-identity card issued by their institution.
		In case scholars need to cut short their attendance to the conference, then they will need to contact the Scholarships Chair to explain the situation.
		Although we do not expect it to happen, in case of violation of these conditions, misuse/abuse of the funds, or improper behavior from any person, their travel expenses will not be reimbursed. Further action, as deemed necessary, may also be taken, such as debarring them from future HiPC conferences, reporting the incident to the head of their institution, blacklisting of the department or institution, etc. Again, we hope these actions will not be necessary.

Scholarship Application
We will continue accepting applications until October 20^th and announce the first batch of awardees by November 6^th. However, depending on the acceptance/rejection of the offer by this first batch, more scholarships may be awarded until November 12^nd. In case you are selected, you will be required to register for the conference within one week of your selection. Please note that the scholarships are very competitive, and will be awarded on the basis of merit. However, your grades/marks will not be the only criterion used for making the decisions.