Hewlett International Conference Grants application and guidelines (Word Document)

A modest amount of money is available through International Programs & Studies (IPS) to support small conferences involving leading experts on important topics of current scholarly interest that have a substantive international content.  The source of these funds is an endowment initiated by a grant from the Hewlett Foundation that was matched by private donations and university funds.

The intent is to foster conferences where 6-8 leading figures in the selected area participate in presentations and discussions for 2-3 days on campus.  It is encouraged that some of these leading figures be from countries other than the U.S.  Each participant would be expected to present an original paper, prepared and made available in advance of the conference and open to critique from others.  Inasmuch as the conference should treat a topic in which there is substantial interest and expertise on this campus, at least two of the participants should be Illinois faculty members.  Substantial priority will be given to proposals for conferences to be held on the Illinois campus, and support for annual meetings will be generally discouraged. It is expected that the papers presented at the conference (possibly together with subsequent discussion) will be published or made available to the wider scholarly community.  One aspect of the budget for the event, then, could well be support for publication, in order to encourage swift production of a timely and important volume of studies.

The conference need not be a public event in the usual sense, although arrangements should be made for interested Illinois faculty and students to attend. In addition, planning should include public lectures by some of the participants, receptions in the relevant departments and activities that would provide for interaction with Illinois students, in order to encourage broader interactions with the visiting scholars.  For example, the Global Crossroads Living and Learning Community would be one venue for visiting scholars to interact with students.

The budget for the conference that will be supported by IPS can include travel costs, local costs such as living expenses, and publication costs plus other direct expenses needed to implement a conference.  Honoraria for presenting papers will not be supported by Hewlett funds. Any department, or combination of units, can submit proposals, but each proposal must include a funding plan that includes support from other sources (e.g. Research Board, departmental units), and designate a person (or persons) responsible for arrangements. Financial support is available to a maximum of $12,000 per award.

A committee convened by IPS will review all proposals and make recommendations on awards.  The deadline for proposal applications will be Monday, November 30, 2009.  Recipients will be announced in January, 2010. Funds are awarded for conferences proposed for the 2010-2011 academic year.

Although the range of topics is not restricted, the topic must deal with an issue of significant importance for international studies.  Preference will be given to new topics not addressed in recently funded conferences.  Attached is a listing of conferences funded during the past five years.

The plan over time for these conferences envisages a series of occasional publications identifiable in the academic community as a continuing contribution by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign to intellectual inquiry on an international scale and on topics at the forefront of inquiry.  Recipients should acknowledge the source of funds when publishing or presenting materials from these conferences.  Although International Programs & Studies cannot at this time sponsor very many conferences per year because of limited resources, an annual series can soon result in a set of volumes in which the campus can take great pride.

A web page for each conference should be developed, if possible, to increase awareness of the conference.  This web page should also include a summary of the conference when completed.  A link to the Illinois International home page will be established.

A short (two-page) report on the conference should be submitted including publications or plans for publishing.

Criteria for award are:

1. Scholarly significance of the international content of the topic;
2. Quality of the leading participants;
3. Quality of plans for the conference and feasibility of implementing the plans;
4. The extent of University of Illinois faculty, student, and other department and college involvement in the conference and accompanying public activities;
5. The degree to which the proposal responds to the timing, financial, publication and other items noted in the request for proposals.

The proposals should not be longer than eight pages including budget request.  The budget request should include sources and amounts of financial support for the conference and publication plans.

The proposal should be submitted electronically (.pdf or MS Word format) to ips@illinois.edu by November 30, 2009.