OBF Event Fellowship 2022, Round 2: 1 October

[malvikasharan]

The call for applications for the OBF Event Fellowship 2022, round 2 is now open. The deadline for this round is 1 October 2022. Applications should be submitted via this Google Form. We have provided a Word template to help you draft the application locally before filling the form – make a copy of this template.

OBF Event Fellowship Round:

• Round-1: 1 April
• Round-2: 1 October

Assign different section to different Event Fellowship chairs: see task list below

• 7-8 weeks before the application deadline: Malvika and ADD NAME
• 1-2 weeks before the application deadline: ADD NAME
• After the deadline: ADD NAME
• After review: ADD NAME
• After an awardee finishes their event: Assign case-by-case basis

Before opening the call for application (minimum 6 weeks in advance)

7-8 weeks before the deadline:

• Update the application form with the correct date and application round-specific information (such as BOSC participation)
• Create a blog post for the announcement
• Get the board to review the blog, and when the majority agrees, publish the blog
• Cross-post announcements on Twitter, Slack and newsletter (OBF or other projects)
• If possible, host a webinar to share tips and suggestions with the potential applicants

1-2 weeks before the deadline:

• Amplify the announcement
• Create a folder for the specific round (within the dedicated directory for event fund) in the OBF-board shared google drive (round-specific shared folder)
• Within that folder, create a copy of the rubric template to share with the board when the review begins
• Double check if any application has come through that may need to follow up for any missing detail

After the deadline

• Export the full application in a Google sheet and store it in the round-specific shared folder
• Create a new sheet in the file to replace the 'time stamp' column with a pseudo key for each applicant
• Copy the new sheet to another file for 'anonymised applications' -> remove columns with name, email, affiliation and any strongly identifiable information -> this will be shared with the board
• Share the link of this anonymised applications sheet on the copy of the review form that will be shared with the board
• Share a summary from this application round and ask for 3-4 volunteers from the board who are available to review applications
• Create new columns in the anonymised applications file to allocate applications to reviewers - make sure to have at least two reviewers per application
• Give 10-14 days for reviewers, after which create an overview of reviews (yes, no, maybe) to share with the board
• In case of conflict of interest or opposing review outcome, allocate review to an extra reviewer with 2-4 days of application review time
• For applications that need extra discussion, either set a meeting or bring it to the next board meeting
• Mediate discussion via email to conclude all applications by the end of 3 weeks after the deadline

After review

• Communicate the final decision based on review comments and the board's suggestion
• Email both the awarded and declined application - provide feedback where possible (email drafts in the shared folder)
• Help awardees to answer any questions they may have regarding the fellowship - refer to the (Travel_fellowships.md)[./Travel_fellowships.md] document for consistency

After an awardee finishes their event

• Create a WordPress account for them in the OBF website account (add a new user -> use name and email to create a profile -> give 'contributor access' -> create a user id and password to share)
• Email the awardee their WordPress user id and password with some information on how to log in and create a new post
• Ask awardees to share a draft for a blog post in a Google Doc or any editable file that board members can edit before publishing
• After review, ask the awardee to share the post in WordPress under draft mode
• Include a header section as shown in this post: https://www.open-bio.org/2022/06/17/furkanmtorun-pycon2022/ - <p style="color:green"><em>The <a href="https://www.open-bio.org/travel-awards">Open Bionformatics Foundation (OBF) Event Fellowship program</a> aims to promote diverse participation at events promoting open source bioinformatics software development and open science practices in the biological research community. <a href="https://furkanmtorun.github.io/">Furkan M. Torun</a>, Data Scientist at OmicEra Diagnostics &amp; Computational Biologist, attended the <a href="https://pycon.it/en">PyCon Italia 2022</a>, supported by this fellowship granted to him in the first round of 2022.</em></p>, updating name, affiliation and conference information.
• Use Event fund tag and meaningful post title
• Shorten permalink (by default WordPress uses full title in link)
• When agreed, publish the post and share the link by email informing the treasurer to go ahead with the reimbursement process
• Share the link to the blog post on Twitter, Slack and the post for the next round of application
• Update the Travel fellowship Budget Sheet

See the full documentation for details: Travel_fellowships.md

[nlharris]

This checklist is great! However, I'm not sure why July 15 was added -- it won't help with BOSC (which is July 13-14 this year; it's always some time in July). Please see my comments on #94.

[malvikasharan]

Thanks @nlharris. Happy to change the timeline to accommodate BOSC timing. Will bring this to the Board meeting today.

[malvikasharan]

We have a conclusion, but since I am stepping down, I suggest the remaining chairs to discuss next dates after the usual round in October. Maybe consider if you would like to introduce flexible request for exceptional cases before the late deadline.