The european network for people-centered design of interactive technologies

Mobility Services

The Mobility Services task has the purpose of giving mobility grants to students and professionals.

Convivio’s mobility grants enable a lively interaction among the network members across Europe and beyond project teams.
Convivio supports the movement of researchers and practioners between centres as well as workshops and meetings.
Other activities that support the Convivio objectives can also be proposed.

Applications will be evaluated by the Convivio coordination group taking into account available budget and expected relevance and benefits for the Convivio community.
In many cases support may only be possible on a “shared costs basis” (i.e. the network may only be able to bear a share of the total costs of a proposed activity).
The reporting of the results of these grants is important, so that it benefits not only the participants but also the wider community.
Priority will be given to workshops that clearly further the aims of the network.

Types of grants

Troubadour Grants: these special travel grants enable one researcher or in some cases two researchers to visit a number of Convivio sites, and to communicate project results to other projects interested in learning more about these results (assuming appropriate IPR arrangements). It can also allow researchers to get a fast glimpse on an entire research field. In some cases, it will even be possible to invite a person who is not a Convivio member to act as a Troubadour and get an unbiased, outside view on the relationships between projects. The Convivio coordination group has the right to invite troubadours and ask them to apply.

Ambassador Grants: these special travel grants enable Convivio members to present Convivio-related work (e.g. a paper, poster or an exhibit at an international event, such as a conference, a workshop or an exhibition).

Convivio Days: the Convivio Days are a cluster of workshops at a common location. These 1 to 3 day workshops need to feature presentations and discussions on specific issues of great interest to the Convivio community, and/or facilitate a broad, informal and efficient information exchange between Convivio member and Convivio-related projects and research activities. In addition to workshops, a Convivio Days event may comprise further events and activities (e.g. an exhibition or a panel discussion with attendees from different participating workshops). The concept of Convivio Days is inspired by structurally related events including, for instance DC Tales and the former i3-Spring Days series.
Convivio Days can be the breeding ground for Troubadour grants and Research Ateliers (see below).

Convivio Workshops and Working Meetings: in addition to workshops held under the umbrella of a Convivio Days event, Convivio members may propose “stand-alone” workshops or smaller working meetings, or Convivio workshops that are held in conjunction with another event, such as an international conference. Support may be granted in case the proposed workshop or working meeting is of interest to the Convivio community and in principle open to Convivio members (”In principle” means that: either the workshop organisers publish a public call for workshop attendance detailing the rules for participation or, in case of workshops with invited attendees only, the organisers attach a list of the invitees and indicate their relation to Convivio).

Convivio Ateliers: in contrast to Convivio Days, ateliers are focused gatherings where a small group of researchers, designers and practitioners from different sites and projects work together on a specific topic for longer periods of time.
This gives people the opportunity to develop and to experiment with various technologies in close collaboration with each other, possibly pursuing the interoperability and integration of components that have been developed by different parties.

Who is eligible to apply for a grant?

Convivio Mobility Services are open to all Convivio members.
Convivio members can propose activities and, in case of approval by the network’s coordination group, may receive support (financial and/or in other forms) from the network. If your institution is not a member and your proposal is accepted your institution must be prepared to become a member and the paperwork must be signed before the activity takes place.
The grant will take the form of a budget transfer to the institution.

How to apply for a grant

How to make a proposal depends on the particular type of activity.
The information below provides some general guidelines for proposal preparation as well as more specific aspects regarding Troubadour grants, Ambassador grants, Convivio Workshops, and Convivio Ateliers.
For other types of activities, such as contributions to a Convivio Days Event, rules regarding conditions of applications will be published in the respective call.
The listed types of activities are meant as a guide: when applying, please do not feel constrained by these descriptions and all applications received shall be taken on a case by case basis.
Convivio would like to fund events looking at exciting and innovative topics.

Troubadour Grants.
Application data to be provided:
- Troubadour info indicating relation to the Convivio network
- Sites to be visited
- Purpose of the visits
- Estimated total costs and requested support from the network
- Motivation, objective, result
- Schedule

Your application should state a well defined overall goal, as a result of the individual visits, in relation to the scope and objectives of Convivio, and a justification of the proposed event duration.

Ambassador Grants.
Application data to be provided:
- Ambassador info
- Info about the event to be attended and its relevance for Convivio
- Info about the kind of Convivio representation at the event
- Estimated total costs and requested support from the network

Your application should explain how the event will be of interest to a large number of Convivio members and potential new members.

Convivio Workshops and Working Meetings.
Application data to be provided:
- Organiser info
- Coordinates of the event (i.e., location, date)
- Motivation, objectives, expected outcomes
- Draft of the Call for participation
- Estimated total costs and requested support from the network

Make sure to explain:
- Interest of the event to a large number of Convivio members
- Significant benefits of the proposed info exchange
- Event duration (typically between 0.5 and 2 days)

Convivio Ateliers.
Application data to be provided:
- Organiser info
- Participant info
- Coordinates of the event (i.e. location, date)
- Motivation, objectives, expected outcomes
- Estimated total costs and requested support from the network

Remarks:
- Event should be focused
- Results of collaboration should be tangible/quantifiable
- Importance of “integrated” team effort should be obvious
- Event duration typically 1-3 weeks

Convivio requires a summary report of the outcome of any activity supported by its Mobility Services.
In addition, beneficiaries of grants are encouraged to provide additional archivable documentation, such as booklets, proceedings, videos etc.

When to make a submission

Applications can be sent any time to the convener of Mobility Services Thomas Rist, copying-in Convivio’s project manager Michela Marini.
You will receive an email receipt . An evaluation of applications will done quarterly, at the end of March, June, September and November.

Calls for a certain type of activity may comprise a specific application form that should be used in this case.

All received applications will be evaluated by the Convivio Coordination Group which will decide on acceptance or rejection.
The Coordination Group reserves the right to make acceptance depended on certain conditions. For instance, in some cases the coordination group may deny funding for a certain cost category, or suggest a reduced total grant.
The Convivio project manager will notify applicants via email about the decision of the Coordination Group.

Please download the reports of the Convivio funded events in 2005:
Socially Competent IVA’s: We are not alone in this (virtual) world!
(48 KB, PDF)
Manipulate Media Workshop and Plastic Video
(2.6 MB, PDF)
International Symposium on Mobile Creativity
(744 KB, PDF)
Re-Thinking Technology in Museums
(48 KB, PDF)
First International Workshop on Social Implications of Ubiquitous Computing
(56 KB, PDF)