Community support

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What is the TDWG Community Support Fund?

TDWG Interest (IG) and Task (TG) Groups are the organizational entities that undertake standards development and maintenance. Every year, if the budget permits, TDWG supports the work of IG/TGs by contributing to the costs of convening one or two working meetings.

What does the TDWG CSF cover?

  1. Travel and subsistence support for participation in IG/TG working meetings.
  2. Costs directly related to the organization of IG/TG working meetings, including venue hire.
  3. Costs related to the dissemination of the workshop/meeting results and engagement of stakeholders.

Who can apply?

TDWG IG/TG conveners may apply for funds to (co-)organize IG/TG working meetings.

Please be aware that proposals from Groups that have a current annual report will be given preference. A guide to reporting and a template for IG/TG annual reports (as GoogleDoc or in Markdown). See Responsibilities of conveners for a more comprehensive enumeration of responsibilities.

Call frequency

Provided that sufficient resources are available, a call for applications will be announced at least once every calendar year.

Evaluation criteria

  1. Previous activity of the Group, proven through annual reports submitted to the TDWG Executive Committee or other public reports and products (not applicable to new Groups*)
  2. Overall impact, timeliness and cost efficiency
  3. Inclusiveness of the participation model (e.g., percentage of new members participating and geographic coverage)
  4. Expected progress on development of new or revision of current TDWG standards
  5. Availability of matching funds from other sources (as percentage of total costs)

New Groups are here defined as formally endorsed IG and TG with less than a year’s activity from the time of approval.

Additional information and restrictions

The maximum amount of funds awarded per proposal is USD $3,000.

Following successful completion of TDWG CSF-supported working meetings, the Convener must report to the TDWG Executive Committee key outputs and action items. Reports must be submitted within 30 days after the event date.

Review and notification

Applications received by the deadline will be reviewed by TDWG Executive Committee and evaluated against the criteria set forth above. Following the completion of the review, applicants will be notified of their scores and the Committee’s decision. Successful proposals will be communicated to the TDWG membership and posted on the TDWG website.

Application form

Application forms will be available online at URLs provided in the announcement of each call.

Funding mechanism

Proposals must include an estimated budget. Following an award, the budget will be finalized by agreement with the TDWG Treasurer. Generally, funds will be disbursed to participants as reimbursement of expenses incurred. Receipts and/or reimbursement forms must be submitted to the TDWG Treasurer within 30 days of the event. By prior arrangement, vendors may submit invoices directly to the Treasurer.