Guidelines for Proposals
Guidelines for Proposals
Please review the program descriptions and FAQ before submitting your proposal via the online form.
Indicate the subject of your proposal. If standard subject codes do not fit your topic, select "Other" and explain in the "Additional Comments" section.
| 5-Day Workshops | Half-Workshops | 2-Day Workshops | Focused Research Groups | Research in Teams | Summer School Training Camps | Hybrid Thematic Programs | PIMS-BIRS Team-up Programs | BIRS Now! | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of organizers | 2 to 5 | 2 to 3 | 2 to 5 | 1 to 5 | 1 to 5 | 2 to 5 | 2 to 5 | 2 to 5 | 2 to 5 |
One organizer must be designated as the lead. See FAQ for organizer roles and rules for organizers involved in multiple proposals.
In Step 1 of the proposal, organizers will be asked to "Add Participants”.
- Please add the names and email addresses of researchers you would like to invite if your proposal is funded. Upon your confirmation, BIRS sends these prospective participants an email meant to gauge their interest in the proposed workshop. If a proposal is successful, researchers who expressed interest in the proposal are automatically included in the participant list and will receive a formal invitation to join the program in a format (in-person/online) convenient to them. Any spots released due to invitations being declined are made available to organizers for new invitations, subject to capacity.
- Prospective participants may need additional details of the proposed workshop from the organizers to make an informed decision. Such information should be provided outside the BIRS platform.
- For each invitation or batch or invitations, organizers are asked to assign a date by which the prospective participant(s) should respond. Organizers may wish to set an early date to give themselves time to invite more participants, depending on the responses from the initial rounds.
- The workshop's capacity constraints, as given in the table below in item 4, should be kept in mind while issuing invitations at the proposal preparation stage. BIRS recommends inviting less than the maximum possible number of participants at the proposal stage to allow greater flexibility in adding participants later.
- Participants who express interest in the proposed program will be asked to fill out a self-identification questionnaire. The extent of the information shared through this questionnaire is at the discretion of the responder. While filling in this questionnaire is mandatory, "prefer not to answer" is an acceptable answer to every question.
- For more information about participant list and program design, visit our FAQ section.
All BIRS programs are hybrid, with limited in-person capacity as indicated in the table below, and up to 300 virtual participants. The number and composition of prospective participants should be aligned with the program objectives and program structure outlined in the proposal, and should leave room for possible additions if revisions are requested.
| LOCATION | 5-Day Workshops | Half-Workshops | 2-Day Workshops | Focused Research Groups | Research in Teams | Summer School Training Camps | Hybrid Thematic Programs | PIMS-BIRS Team-up Programs | BIRS Now! |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Banff | Up to 42 | Up to 21 | Up to 25 | Up to 8 | 2 to 4 | Flexible; up to 40 | Up to 42 | 2 to 6 | Up to 42 |
| CMO (Oaxaca) | Up to 20(and up to 22 additional self-funded participants) | ||||||||
| IASM (Hangzhou) | Up to 42 | ||||||||
| IMAG (Granada) | Up to 42 | ||||||||
| CMI (Chennai) | Up to 42 |
With regard to your proposed dates, please give us options - particularly “low-season” alternatives. To make sure that the dates you indicate as being acceptable really are acceptable to you, you may use calendar for a list of holidays.
- BIRS - January to December
- CMO - April to June; August to November
- IASM - January to December
- IMAG - April to July
- CMI - January to March; September to December
- The workshop should be sufficiently innovative and timely that holding it has the potential to make a difference to the subject. Of special interest are proposals that take advantage of newly emerging links between areas, explore synergies between evolving fields or offer meeting opportunities for groups of participants who do not normally meet together. A clear description of the mathematical content and innovation is a crucial criterion for assessment of the proposal objectives.
- The proposal should avoid being too diffuse and should not attempt to cover too many areas at once. If applicable, indicate why it is distinct from other events in related subject areas being held elsewhere.
- The proposal should indicate detailed planning for program delivery and embed a variety of events in addition to the traditional meeting format. BIRS aims to host events that facilitate new collaborations, train young talent, and have a mentorship component with the capability of long-range impact tracking.
- The proposed participant list should be realistic and coherent with the goals of the event. It is more convincing to the selection panel if you can indicate that a number of your participants have confirmed their interest in the workshop, and how you intend to involve them.
- Proposals must include contingency plans for situations similar to the COVID-19 pandemic. Priority will be given to proposals that demonstrate adaptability to virtual or online models under such circumstances.
The sections titled "Overview" and "Objectives" of the online form should total between 2 to 4 pages for 5-day workshops, summer schools and Focused Research Groups. For smaller or shorter programs such as 2-day workshops or Research in Teams, the requirement is less, preferably between 1 and 2 pages.
Submissions should be in plain text, with UTF-8 encoding (for the Unicode character set). You may use LaTeX2e syntax for mathematical expressions or formatting. Formatting may include itemized lists, sections (\section*{section name}), subsections (\subsection*{subsection name}), citations, and bibliographies (add “\begin {thebibliography}{99} ...” to the end of "Objectives").
If the proposal is successfully submitted, the lead applicant will receive an auto-generated confirmation, with a copy of your proposal attached. Please check that the proposal received by BIRS is the same as the one you submitted. If the copy of the proposal in the auto-generated message seems corrupted, or if you have other questions about proposal submission, please contact the BIRS Program Coordinator at birs@birs.ca.
Organizers are asked to confirm that they have reviewed applicable research security guidance.
See FAQ for links and more information.