Frequently Asked Questions for Wikimania 2012 Scholarship Applicants

General questions

Q: What is a Wikimania 2012 Scholarship ("scholarship")?
A: A scholarship is an award given to an individual to enable them to attend Wikimania 2012 in Washington DC, USA, from July 12–15, 2012. Accommodations for the Hacking Days July 10–11 can also be covered upon request and proof of attendance.

Q: Who pays for scholarships?
A: The Wikimedia Foundation will fund a limited number of scholarship awards. In addition, some chapters have agreed to sponsor scholarships. If you are from a country or language project that is willing to sponsor, you will automatically be considered for both scholarship options.

Q: How many scholarships are available?
A: No set number of scholarships are awarded; rather, the Foundation has a set amount of scholarship funding available. This is anticipated to fund approximately 80 full scholarships and 50 partial scholarships.

Types of scholarships

Q: What Scholarships are available?
A: Both partial and full scholarships are available for 2012.

Partial scholarships will cover up to 300€ (~US$425) of travel expenses

Full scholarships will cover round-trip travel, dorms accommodations (as arranged by the Wikimania Team), and registration for Wikimania 2012.

Q: Are there country or language specific scholarships being offered?
A: Yes! A few chapters and organizations have agreed to sponsor scholarships for a select number of individuals from their country or language project. If you are eligible for these additional scholarships, you will be automatically considered and notified upon receipt. Note that this page deals only with issues related to the Wikimedia Foundation sponsored scholarships. Details of the chapter-specific scholarships will be included in an email following receipt of the scholarship.

Q: Why are partial scholarships being offered?
A: Partial scholarships are being offered this year in an effort to expand the scope of the Wikimania Scholarships by providing support to more people to attend Wikimania.

Q: Is there a separate application for partial scholarships?
A: No – there is only one application. Applicants interested in the partial scholarship simply need to indicate interest in the appropriate section of the application.

Q: If I am not interested in the partial scholarship, can I still apply for the full scholarship?
A: Yes – simply select “No” when asked in the "Partial Scholarship” section of the application.

Scholarship eligibility

Q: Am I eligible for a scholarship to attend Wikimania 2012?
A: While anyone can apply for a scholarship to attend Wikimania, the most eligible candidates are active contributors to a Wikimedia project and/or Wikimedia volunteer in any other capacity, from anywhere in the world. Participants in other free knowledge, free software, collaborative and/or educational initiatives are also encouraged to apply.

For examples of successful scholarship applicants from Wikimania 2011, please see Scholarships/Wikimania 2011 Scholars

Q: Is there an age limit?
A: Anyone is welcome to apply. However, if you are a minor and are selected to receive a scholarship, parental consent is required.

Q: If I received a travel grant or scholarship to a previous Wikimania, am I eligible to receive one for Wikimania 2012 as well?
A: Yes! Though we do look at opportunities to mix-up the recipient pool.

Scholarship value and reimbursement process

Full Scholarship

Q: What does a full scholarship pay for?
A: A full scholarship covers the cost of an individual's round-trip travel (by air, train, or bus), dorms accommodations (as arranged by Wikimania team), and registration for Wikimania. Note that most of the meals are provided as part of the conference. If you are interested in attending the Hacking Days (July 10–11), accommodations may be covered for this as well.

Q: Is there a limit to how much of my travel the full scholarship will cover?
A: The scholarship may cover up to 100% of your travel, but the amount must be reasonable, as determined by the Wikimedia Foundation travel coordinator.

Q: What expenses are not covered by a full scholarship?
A: Visas, local transportation, meals, and other incidental expenses are not covered and are the responsibility of the scholarship recipient.

However, note that most of the meals during the conference are provided as part of the conference, and breakfast is served at the dorm.

If you need help in paying for visas or other incidentals, please indicate this in the comment box of your scholarship application.

Q: If I am awarded a full scholarship, how will the funds be disbursed? Will you send me the money? Reimburse me?
A: The Wikimedia Foundation will pay directly for standard accommodations during the length of the conference, and conference registration fees.

Full scholarship recipients may use the travel booking service recommended by the Wikimedia Foundation which is paid for directly by the Wikimedia Foundation. Alternatively, scholarship recipients may book their own travel at or below a cost estimate provided by the Wikimedia Foundation. Reimbursements will be processed prior to Wikimania.

Those who wish to be reimbursed for cost of travel must provide a receipt for exact cost to the Wikimedia Foundation in order to be reimbursed. Reimbursements are most easily processed by PayPal.

Q: When should I register for Wikimania?
A: Scholarship applicants should wait until after they receive the decision on their scholarship application before registering. We will provide a coupon code to scholarship recipients, enabling free registration. We expect to notify recipients in mid-March. Should you not be awarded a scholarship, you will still be able to register at the early bird rate ($35 for students/Wikimedians; $55 regular) through to April 22.

If you have special circumstances and need to apply for a visa sooner than mid-March, please contact us at <wikimania-registration@wikimedia.org> and we can help get you registered sooner and provide visa assistance.

Partial Scholarship

Q: What does a partial scholarship pay for?
A: The partial scholarship will reimburse the recipient for up to 300€ of round-trip travel expenses. For example, if the total round-trip cost to and from Washington DC is 250€, the recipient will be reimbursed 250€ (pending approval of receipt). If the total round-trip cost is 540€, the recipient will be reimbursed 300€ (pending approval of receipt).

Q: Is there a limit to how much of my travel the partial scholarship will cover?
A: Yes – up to 300€.

Q: What expenses are not covered by the partial scholarship?
A: Accommodations, conference fee, local transportation, meals, visas, and other incidental expenses are not covered, and are the responsibility of the scholarship recipient. However, note that most of the meals during the conference are provided as part of the conference, and breakfast at the dorms.

Q: If I am awarded a partial scholarship, how will the funds be disbursed? Will you send me the money? Reimburse me?
A: Partial scholarship recipients must book their own travel, and reimbursements will be processed upon receipt and approval of travel documentation at Wikimania.

A receipt for exact cost of travel must be sent to the Wikimedia Foundation upon booking of travel, prior to Wikimania. Reimbursements will be processed, when possible, by PayPal and will be sent following sign-in at Wikimania 2012 in Washington DC.

Other sponsored scholarships

Q: Are there any country-specific scholarships?
A: A few chapters and organizations have set aside funds for scholarships and will use the same application system as the WMF Scholarships. See Scholarships#Chapter Scholarships

Q: Do I have to apply separately to be considered for a country or language specific scholarship?
A: No! You will be automatically considered.

Q: Which countries or languages are offering additional scholarship?
A: This will be an ongoing process, but as of now, the following are offering additional scholarships:

Wikimedia Israel
ROSEdu: for contributors to Romanian Wikipedia, regardless of nationality.
Wikimedia Poland, for people from countries which have a lower national income per capita than Poland. Deadline March 9 2012.

Accommodations

Q: What are the accommodations for scholarship recipients?
A: We will provide accommodations for scholarship recipients at Hostelling International DC, located at 11th & K St NW (or another hostel or dorm, if overfill). There is excellent public transportation access between the hostel and the venue, including the DC Circulator bus. We will provide information on reserving space at the hostel when we notify scholarship recipients.

Hostel accommodations will be available to both full and partial-scholarship recipients, however the scholarship only covers accommodation costs for full-scholarship recipients.

Financial need

Q: If I can afford to travel to and attend Wikimania, should I apply?
A: Scholarship recipients are not selected based on financial need. However, we ask that applicants carefully consider their financial need against the needs of other applicants from all over the world. Many applicants do not have the financial means to attend Wikimania without this opportunity.

If you have some financial constraints, we encourage you to apply for the partial scholarship, which will greatly aid in subsidizing the cost of the trip.

Application timing

Q: When is the deadline for applications?
A: February 16, 2012 at 23:59:59 UTC.

Q: When do I find out if I will receive a scholarship to Wikimania?
A: It was originally intended that applicants would be notified of acceptance, decline, or wait-list status on or before March 31, 2012, however decision announcement was delayed to April 20, 2012.

Selection process

Q: How do I apply for a scholarship to attend Wikimania 2012?
A: Please use the application form.

Q: Who selects scholarship recipients?
A: Scholarship applications are reviewed and awardees are selected by the Wikimania Scholarships Review Committee.

Q: On what basis are scholarships awarded?
A: The selection criteria are:

Level of activity within Wikimedia (50%)
Level of activity in other free knowledge projects outside Wikimedia (15%)
Future goals for participating in the Wikimedia movement (35%)

If your question is not answered here, please contact wikimania-scholarshipswikimedia.org