Diversity and Inclusion Subsidies

Instructions

Applicants should complete the D&I Application form before July 3rd, 2024, 23:59 (AoE).

Information

ACL 2024 is providing D&I funds for registration, caregiving, bandwidth, travel, and VPN subsidies. We strongly encourage researchers from developing countries and marginalized communities, students, and researchers with financial hurdles to apply for subsidies and volunteering opportunities to maximize their chances of waiving their registration fees. Please apply for subsidies before July 3rd, 2024, 23:59 (AoE).

Registration and Membership subsidies

This is to get a waiver for ACL registration. You can also request ACL membership if applicable. You will be asked to justify your application. For instance, you can say:

  1. “I have an accepted paper at the main conference. I would like to apply for a registration fee waiver because my fees are not funded by my organization/institution.”
  2. “I have an accepted paper at an ACL Workshop. I live in a developing country [name the country], and I/my institution cannot afford the registration fees.”
  3. “I have a paper accepted at the main conference/workshop/ and I am an active member of Latinx/Masakhane/North African in NLP/QueerinAI/WNLP.” Note that if you are applying for a registration fee waiver, you SHOULD NOT register for the conference until you hear from us about your D&I subsidy application. Keep in mind that we will take your justification into account when processing your application. Travel and accommodation subsidies We are also providing travel and accommodation subsidies. Priority will be given to authors, first-time attendees and folks from underrepresented communities with financial hurdles. If you would like to attend the in-person meeting, please keep in mind that if your waiver application is accepted, we are only able to pay in advance for some shared rooms at the conference hotel (the price needs to be included in the amount of money that you are requesting). Other accommodations and travel expenses (e.g., flight tickets) can only be reimbursed after the conference. The number of accepted applicants and the amount of money subsidized will vary depending on the number of applicants and the funding availability.

Please answer questions regarding whether you have previously attended any *CL conferences (NAACL, EACL, AACL, ACL, EMNLP, and COLING) accurately, as we would like to give all first-time attendees a chance.

Caregiving and accessibility subsidies

Please note that ACL Does NOT provide childcare, but we can help with funds. We can reimburse caregiving expenses needed at the time of the conference. You need to provide receipts for your expenses. These can be babysitting, transportation costs, or other support required for yourself or your dependents, which ease participation. If you need personal or technical assistance to access and navigate the conference due to a disability, we can reimburse it (e.g., if you need assistance using gather.town due to visual impairment). For the specific caregiving service, we recommend you call the hotel or the local committee team to inquire about what locally approved nanny services they would recommend. We acknowledge that accessibility needs are highly individual to each participant, so please feel free to contact us with any issues you might face. When justifying your caregiving and accessibility subsidy application, you can say, for example: “As a caregiver, I would like to apply for a subsidy of $$ USD to take care of my child when I will be presenting my work at the conference.”

Bandwidth and VPN subsidies

We can reimburse the bandwidth or VPN expenses (for those attending virtually) you need for the conferences. You need to provide receipts for your expenses. Bandwidth subsidies would be for high-speed internet access costs for the duration of the conference only. VPN generally does not cost more than 10 USD per month and could be applied towards participation if you need anonymity to participate completely. A justification example can be:

  1. “I am from a remote village where I depend on my cellular internet. I would need $$ USD to increase my quote as my current plan is unsuitable for video conferencing (add a link to the tariff of your internet subscriber if possible).”
  2. “I worry about my safety and privacy because … and I would like to apply for a VPN subsidy of $$ USD to avoid surveillance (link to the service provider if possible).”

Selection Criteria

Applications will be evaluated based on the submitted materials and provided justifications. Privacy will be respected, and preference will be given to first-time attendees and applicants from underrepresented groups presenting a paper at the main conference or at any of the workshops associated with ACL, and those who do not have other means of support.

Application and Notification Deadlines

  • All deadlines are 23:59 UTC -12h (“anywhere on Earth”).
  • Application Deadline: July 3rd, 2024, 23:59 (AoE)
  • Notification Deadline: July 9th, 2024, 23:59 (AoE)

Notification of acceptance

Applicants will be notified on (or before) Tuesday, July 9th, 2024, 23:59 (AoE), approximately 10 days before the ACL early registration deadline on Friday, July 19th, 2024. Link to ACL registration: https://2024.aclweb.org/registration

We aim to send all the notifications by the deadline above. Please be patient and wait for our email, as we will notify you as soon as possible, no matter the response.

Contact

ACL 2024 Diversity and Inclusion team: acl2024diversity@googlegroups.com

  • Jing Li, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
  • Aparna Garimella, Adobe
  • Steven Wilson, Oakland University
  • Lin Gui, King’s College London